


Proctor Valley Road

by Cas_s_Honeybee, Dgray3994



Series: Blame it on Singer Series [12]
Category: Supernatural, Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Supernatural (TV) Fusion, Alternate Universe - Teen Wolf (TV) Fusion, Breakfast, Cryptozoology, Ghosts, Hunters and Hunting, Instagram, Jai singing badly, Monster of the Week, Not sure what it is this time, Overprotective Dean Winchester, Southern California, Supernatural Elements, Supernatural Hunters, Urban Legends, Yes we own a plane, authentic Mexican food, bad singing, it's a thing, it's all Liam's fault, some lore we're not sure of, supernatural monsters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:41:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 34,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27247450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cas_s_Honeybee/pseuds/Cas_s_Honeybee, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dgray3994/pseuds/Dgray3994
Summary: The girls are called in on a case when a few of the Beacon Hill boys run into something they're unsure of while out and about in San Diego county. As Mason tries to figure it out on his own, he contacts a new hunter, who arrives to lend a hand. Can Theo, Liam, Mason, and the girls find the answers to a legend that seems to be hidden deep in the lore of Proctor Valley Road?
Relationships: Liam Dunbar & Original Female Characters, Mason Hewitt & Original Female characters, Theo Raeken & original female charcters
Series: Blame it on Singer Series [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1210602
Kudos: 1
Collections: Supernatural, Teen Wolf





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ShifuHippie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShifuHippie/gifts).



> Jenn and I have always been out and about hunters (well, out and about for real, hunters in our head) but we love to bring in some friends from time to time, so this one is for Maggie. Thanks for collaborating with us on it. Here we go.

**Liam**

I held the camera out as far as I could get my arm to reach and still be able to hit the button on the side of the phone, adjusted it, and tried to fit myself in the picture with as much of the water as I could. It wasn’t easy, but I almost had it.

The area of the Proctor Valley Road Trail we were on was mostly flat, wide-open, and vastly different than what we would see in Beacon Hills, but right now, I was standing in front of the Upper Otay Reservoir trying to get a picture. 

The place was covered in small bushes, dirt roads that were used as bike paths, patches of nothingness, and most of the sounds we heard only came from wild animals. There was the occasional outburst from Mason who happened to stumble on something he had been searching for in whatever hiking guide he was looking at. Other than that, it was… amazing.

It was beautiful, warm, not too many clouds in the sky. It was peaceful and for the first time in a year, I didn’t have to worry about my anger issues, they seemed… controlled. 

Except for one small problem.

Theo.

He stood behind me as I held the phone up, his arms crossed, head tilted back just a bit to make his chin stick out and the smug smile on his face made me just want to punch him. It wasn’t a far cry from what I felt every day towards him, he was just there… making every one of my nerves sing with some strange bond. I knew when he was close, when he was too far away, when he was angry, and when those nightmare moments of his childhood haunted his dreams… though I would never tell him that much. 

I brushed it off at first, when he woke up screaming in my parents’ guest room, but after a while, I couldn’t ignore it anymore and I had to find him. That was when we moved him closer. There were five bedrooms in the house, three were empty and the one Theo was in happened to be the furthest from mine, but when those nightmares started, when I found out that just being in the same room as him settled them, he moved to the one right beside me.

It calmed him, settled me, and here we stood, anchors. And then there were times like these, when all I could fantasize about was breaking his nose… again.

“Come on, Liam, you’re taking too long. Take the damn picture and let’s go.” His voice was sharp, like it had always been, but today it was just grating on my nerves. 

I closed my eyes, and let out a breath, inwardly counting to ten before I opened them again, and saw him still standing behind me.

“If you don’t move, I’m gonna take it, and you’re gonna be in it.” I growled out, but it was more of a low whisper than a yell. I didn’t want Mason to know we were still this close to being at each other’s throats... again. “Last warning, I’m not going to erase it.”

“So, take it,” he shrugged, “no one’s going to see it anyway.”

“Oh, really?” I angled the camera, snapped the picture and instantly intended to send it to Instagram. It was actually a really good shot, and funny enough, his  _ I’m being an asshole _ smirk was more of a smile. It was the only picture of him I had where he was actually looking at the camera so far, all the rest had been stealthy, sound-off profiles, or candids. I wasn’t telling him I was SMing the hell out of this trip. I tapped on the app, moved to hit my library button, but stopped as my posts updated. I had to blink a couple times as I took in the picture now on my screen. “Huh.”

“What?” Mason’s voice came to the right of me as he slowly walked into my peripheral. He had been leaning over a cactus not far up the way while I argued with Theo, but always was front and center when something that sounded like a mystery popped up. 

Mason was pretty much immune to the angst between me and Theo now, since we had known each other almost ten years, and Mason and I grew up together, but he didn’t want to hear about it. Plus… this trip was supposed to be about helping me control the anger, not take it out on the one who was supposed to be my anchor. I felt the heat of each one of them behind both shoulders and glanced from Theo’s blue eyes, locked on the screen with a little confusion, and maybe some longing, to Mason’s brown ones, that were wide and smiling.

“Wow! Is that really Gwen?” Mason breathed out, like he was suddenly twitterpated. I turned the phone just a bit and smiled. “She looks amazing.”

The photo in question was a selfie from Jai Lancing’s point of view. The small hunter, who I had only met twice after a few quick returns to Beacon Hills when the whole evil fae deal was over, was standing in at the side of the picture, dressed in a black pants suit, and behind her, in a fitted, crimson, backless dress, was her partner, Gwen Bancroft. 

Mason loved her. I mean  _ loved _ her, though I’m not sure if it was because of how smart she was or because of her height. She stood five-inches taller than him, and she was the only girl crush I had ever known Mason to have. He was gay, strictly dated guys… like Corey, who had been his other half for almost as long as I had known Theo… but, man did he have something for Gwen.

“What are they doing?” Theo’s hushed voice got me to turn my head towards him. 

He had leaned in closer, set his chin on my shoulder and was just reaching for my phone. I shrugged as he tapped Jai’s profile -- which was not under her name at all but that of one Tina Dyncer, which I’m sure was code for something -- and together we scrolled through their recent pictures. 

“Dude,” Mason’s relentless patting on my shoulder had me fighting back the urge to snap at him, but he kept talking, “that’s the R.I.T.Z. Gala.”

Theo leaned around me to look at him exactly the way I was… questioning his sanity. “The what?”

“The San Diego Zoo always has a charity Gala about this time every year. They’re at the Gala.” Mason was way too excited about this. Theo swiped my phone, started walking away, and the only thing I could do was take a deep breath and count… again. “Just leave him, you know how Jai and him are. It’s actually kinda creepy. Let him look.”

“How do you know they’re at the Gala?” Mason and I moved towards the water, as I tried to drown out the weird feral noises that Theo was making. “And how do you know about Theo and Jai, I only know when he disappears, she’s usually the one he’s with.”

“So, my mom and dad have this thing about endangered species and every year we’d go. You probably don't remember, it was mostly during your Devenford days. They would take a weekend to head down to the zoo and participate in the Gala.” And then the bright grin fell from his face, “and please don’t ask me how, it’s something I kinda stumbled on and would rather forget.”

“Ah-huh,” I nodded, still didn’t get the connection, but I was trying NOT to listen to Theo. It didn’t work. I turned and glared at him. “Would you cut it out! She can’t hear you through the phone.” I stepped over towards him and snatched the phone away. “ What are you looking at any…”

I stopped dead. 

I get why he stopped, this one photo was of Jai, who -- while smiling and giving a peace sign -- was sitting on a hospital bed, covered in blood, one eye almost swollen shut. The caption under the picture was a joke, reading “extra on set today, guess who got beat up.” But just knowing the work she was really in made it too real to look at. I closed out the app, tucked my phone away, and grabbed Theo by the arm.

“Come on, I’m the one that’s supposed to be working on my anger, remember? Besides, she’s fine, I’m sure whoever Cas is took care of that. You saw the first picture, right? Not a scar on her face.” I tugged him to Mason, but he was scarily quiet and the three of us continued walking, moving in comfortable silence for a minute. “Tell me about the Gala. Why would they even be in San Diego?”

“You’re kidding right?” Mason smiled, and the three of us walked on. “Gwen’s rich.”

“She is not!” Theo argued, “we’ve all seen the motels they stay in.”

“That’s Jai’s choice… mostly,” Mason argued. “She’s the hunter, the one always on the road, but Gwen. She has this manor. Peter told me about it when I was helping him with some warding. He said it was huge. Indoor pool, bowling alley, seven acres of land.”

“How do you know so much?” I snipped, not that I was angry but I could almost hear the argument coming. “I mean besides Peter.”

“Yeah, because Peter’s the most reliable source of information.” Theo’s eyes rolled so much I thought his head might come off but he kept moving with us, kept listening… until he stopped dead. “Wait… Jai said…”

“Said what?” I was curious now because most of what Jai said to Theo, he kept close to his heart.

“She said if I… if we ever needed her, she could hop a plane in less than two hours.”

“Yeah, you can grab commercial flights that’ll do that too, so what?” Mason always loved to have the last word.

“She also said, she just needed to clear a flight plan.”

This had me waiting on Mason to go ahead with some smartass quip back but he just stood there confused. “That would mean…”

“They have their own plane,” Theo ended it without so much as looking up, but I just shook my head.

“No one’s got their own plane, no one lives in a giant manor. Except Derek… and maybe Lydia when she’s home. Can we go? I’m starving.” It wasn’t that I didn’t find this tantalizing, I really was hungry. That and we had three miles before we got to the car… and the sun was setting. We started moving again, the three of us quiet until I couldn’t be anymore. “If they’re out in San Diego, we should invite them out here.”

“Ah… No.” Theo instantly started shaking his head. “I can take a lot of things, but seeing Lancing more than once a month is a little much.”

“She’s not that bad.” Mason grinned.

“You’re not me.” Theo stuffed his hands in his pockets and sighed. It took a minute before he backpedaled. “I don’t know, maybe it wouldn’t be that bad way out here.”

The sun had sunk below the horizon and the sky grew dark enough that Mason had pulled the small flashlight from his pocket. It was only a penlight but it was more than enough with our heightened vision to help lead him out safely. 

Mason grinned, full on grinned, because no one intrigued him more than those two hunters. Which only got me to think…

“Don’t you know one?” I saw the confusion in Mason’s eyes as he thought for a moment, and then they went wide, putting a grin on his face as wide as the sky. “A hunter?”

“Yes!” He snapped. “Cooper, she’s up in Reno right now. At least, that’s what she said when I told her we were coming down this way.”

“You told her?” This was Theo suddenly getting protective as we headed back towards the small blue car that Mason had owned forever. 

“Well, yeah,” he just shrugged, typical Mason move. “I had to find out if there were any vampires in the area. You two can’t get bit by one, it’s not good and according to the lore....”

“Now you sound like Sam.” I couldn’t help it, I should have kept it to myself but I really couldn’t, and it got the exact reaction I thought it might out of Theo, a deep, angry rumble. I whipped around as fast as I could, put my hands on his chest and tried to calm him. “It’s not what you think, Theo.”

“Sam?” He didn’t so much spit out the word as huff it, but he relaxed slowly. “Like Sam Winchester, like Jai’s Sam?”

“Yeah… him.” 

“What are you even doing talking to Sam? He’s a...”

“Columbus.” That was probably the fastest answer I had ever given him. “The week in Columbus.”

“Where you almost died… when you never even told me where you went?” Theo inhaled so deep that I thought he might have grown three inches, but he just let his eyes close. That had been a very bad week, very bad. 

“You know how it went, you know I’m okay.” I whispered, there were just too many emotions for my overly annoyed side to pop up at his display of protectiveness. “Theo, I’m here. I’m good. Hey,” and all I saw was the bright gold of his eyes when he opened them, but they were looking at me, and he wasn’t wolfing out, so that was good. “Come on. Food.”

Theo nodded, blinked away the power, took a moment to collect himself, and followed as I turned and walked on with Mason.

“Anyway…” Mason ignored Theo’s tantrum, “so, Cooper’s up in Reno…”

“How did you meet her again?”

“The library in Beacon Hills,” Mason laughed. “She was posing as a librarian, remember.”

“I thought she was at UC Davis.” Theo grumbled out, a little confused.

“Oh yeah! Red Riding Hood, right?” Suddenly well aware of who we were talking about.

“For that one Halloween, Liam.” Mason rolled his eyes in annoyance.

“Yeah but…” I knew this hunter now, her and her bright red hair, and the fact that she had cornered me once, on a full moon, shifted and angry, but she had let me go, knew who I was even if I didn't know her. “Okay, so she’s cool, maybe we should…”

I stopped. Blinked and looked down the road a ways. There was someone.

“Do you guys see that?” 

“There’s no one there.” Theo whispered to my right as Mason stopped beside me. 

“What do you mean? She’s right there, Theo.” I didn’t mean to argue… again, but there was a buzzing in the air, like it was charged… almost like a storm was coming but once more, Theo’s eyes were bright yellow. “Hey, what’s with you?”

“There’s no one there,” he repeated, which was just bullshit because… I looked up the road, there was definitely someone there, and she was now so much closer.

“Ah, guys, she’s not real.” Mason grabbed my arm, yanking me back a few steps. “She doesn’t have any feet.”

“How can you see that far?” It’s not that I didn’t have so many more questions, but my brain only processed a few things at one time. 

“There’s no scent. It’s just us.” Theo was whispering now. That’s what he meant, okay, I think I got it now. No one there meant she wasn’t real.

“Holy shit, that’s a ghost.” Mason panicked, his voice trembled, and she flickered out, only to appear closer. Her dress, something white and flowing blew in the wind, except there wasn’t any. It was tattered, ripped and shredded, and in spots it was darker than others. “And that’s blood. Dried blood.”

“We need to go,” Theo growled, and while he had told me a long time ago that people could only feel one emotion at a time, he was pressing the edge of feeling everything. 

I reached behind me, grabbed his shirt and held on for dear life because she was coming towards us. Her black hair moved across her face, whipping around like her dress, but it was her pale face that got me when she was finally in range to make out features. It was ashened, like death, and around her eyes was black. She was sickly and weak looking but there was something terrifying about being this close to her. 

“Go,” I knew it slipped out like a whisper and I knew Theo heard it because he stepped back. “Go now.” She was not more than ten feet away when my feet finally uprooted. “RUN!”

Mason turned and took off, Theo not far behind, but I was never as fast as him, even with the werewolf speed, trailing the pack of three we made. Mason veered off into the brush, Theo following closely to make sure our mortal friend didn’t suffer any injuries and I moved to cover his back. 

That was when the ground gave way under my boots and I slipped, toppling down a small embankment until I rested on my back, staring up at the cloudless sky and the stars that flickered above me.

I heard her, though I wasn’t sure how, right along the road I had detoured from, and I moved onto my stomach to watch her. She stood frozen in place, her hair now flapping behind her, the profile of her face clear as day, and I knew this… for some reason, I knew this story.

“A woman in white,” I whispered, not to anyone but myself, like confirmation and that was the moment she turned, staring at me but not moving any closer. 

She opened her mouth, brought her hands up, arms reaching like she was trying to get to me, and she screamed. It wasn’t human, but it wasn’t demonic either. It was full of pain, emotional agony, and it went right to my brain. I fought to drown it out, hands covering my ears as I ducked down, turned my back on her and prayed that she went away.

And then there was silence.

I didn’t move, didn’t open my eyes, or take my hands away, not until I felt a grip on my shoulders. I fought back the fear and let my breathing even out. I knew who it was just by his scent, and swallowed the lump in my throat as I opened my eyes to look at a very worried Theo. He scanned my face, reached up and ran a hand through my hair.

“I tripped over a bush,” was the only thing I could manage to get out. Theo let out a barking laugh, like every worry in the world fell out of him with that one noise. 

“I saw.” His voice shook with those two words, and he backed away, face suddenly a mask of complete control. He held out a hand and sighed. “Come on, Mason is hiding about ten feet down the way. I told him I’d come and make sure you weren’t dead.”

Reaching up, I grabbed his hand. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

He yanked me to my feet and slapped his hands together, bushing off the dirt. “Anytime.”

He left me standing there, dusting myself off, and made his way towards Mason. My phone pinged, distracting me as I pulled it from my pocket. It was a reply on my Instagram.

Opening it up, I tapped into my messages and breathed a sigh. Scott. The only thing he wrote was “awww” and I hated him. 

Tapping on Jai’s profile again, the new post that popped up was a picture of some fancy  Hors d'oeuvres, a flute of champagne, and Gwen in the background talking to others in black ties and evening gowns. The caption under it: “I only came for the free food and spirits.”

Typical.

I slipped the phone away, and caught up to Mason and Theo. Their bonding time seemed to have been interrupted and there was now a weird feeling between the three of us. I couldn’t let it stay that way.

“Hey, Mason… Tell me more about Gwen.” It only seemed fitting. He was the one infatuated with her, and the only one to spend the largest amount of time with her. 

I knew about Jai, hung around her the few times she had been in the area, before her and Theo would take off for hours on end. I wasn’t sure what was between them but it was really strange; the way he reacted to her. Hot, then cold, then colder, almost debilitatingly icy, then scalding hot again. But I only knew what I had been told about Gwen by Mason, and Jai, and those few slips from Derek.

“Oh, my God, she’s amazing.” That’s what I wanted, to see the smile back on Mason’s face. Like I said she was his only ever girl crush, and I’m not even sure it was considered that, but his reaction created one in Theo, who snorted, but wore a shy smile. “Did you know that she interned at the Smithsonian? I mean, she’s a hunter that went to college, kinda like Coop, and not just one but a few? And the things she’s worked with, the people. So amazing.”

“Don’t let Corey hear you talk about her like that.” Theo teased, which was good.

“She had found -- hunted I guess you could say -- nearly every cryptid on the continent, but man,  _ do not _ get her started on Bigfoot.” Mason was animated, hands going a mile a minute, walking almost sideways so that he could keep eye contact, but not trip going backwards… because he would walk backwards to get his point across. “Did you know there’s a museum in Maine just for cryptids and she’s contributed to it?”

“Okay,” Theo laughed, “you are way too obsessed.” I backhanded him in the gut, not to hurt him but to get him to shut up, and he shook his head, huffing sarcastically. “Please, go on.”

“She graduated from Harvard. I mean, I think she said she went on to do other classes at other colleges, but she  _ graduated _ from an Ivy league school, as a hunter!” This was just too much. Mason suddenly put on the brakes. “Wait, what about Jai?”

“What about her?” Theo narrowed his eyes, possessively.

“What’s her story? Like school? College?” Mason needed to know, that was the tone of his voice, but as I watched Theo’s expression turn to confusion, I knew he didn’t have the answers. 

The quick shrug and shake of his head only confirmed it. “It never came up.” 

“That doesn’t mean anything,” I quickly defended, and we moved on, getting closer to the car. In the distance, a low sound, almost like a bull echoed through the night. It got Theo to turn a gaze to the plains. The sun was completely gone now, and the sky was growing dark. “Maybe she just doesn't like to talk about school, I mean she’s smart as hell, she must have gone somewhere.”

“Yeah,” he agreed quietly, eyes still scanning the darkness. The sound came again, this time closer and he grabbed my arm, squeezing tightly. “Let’s go.”

“Theo?” I tried to snatch my arm away, but he didn’t let up, practically dragging me along. “What’s going on? Let go.”

“No, we need to move. Fast.” Whatever it was that he was scenting, it wasn’t registering on my end, so it must have been the coyote in him. That alone made me nervous. 

“Okay, just ease up.” I grabbed his fingers, squeezed a little, and watched the rationality come back to his eyes. He swallowed, and I only saw it because his jaw clenched and slowly he peeled his fingers from my arm, which would have left a bruise if I were completely human. “We’re almost there.”

“I know.” 

It was hard to see Theo in a panic, even if the untrained eye wouldn’t see the slight shift in his gaze, the hard line of his jaw, or hear the uptick in his heart, even if it were just four beats more per minute. Theo’s heart rate was always steady no matter what.

We moved faster, just like he suggested and when we made it to the car, there wasn’t one among us that didn’t feel the threat looming in the darkness. Mason fumbled with the keys, trying to see the unlock button in the darkness.

“Anytime now, Mason.” Theo bit out.

“Working on it.” The hazards flashed on the car and there was an audible click of the locks before he grinned. “Got it.”

The three of us were in and the doors were locked before a single other word was spoken. 

“Let’s get out of here.” I sat back in the seat, let the warmth of the heated leather soothe me, because the plains could get cold after dark. I hadn’t realized the temperature drop before but the adrenaline was pumping so the crash just made me shiver. The weight of a hand on my lower arm from behind me had me glancing in the mirror at Theo’s worried gaze. “I’m okay.”

“Me too,” Mason whispered, started the car, shifted it quickly into gear, and off we went.

The radio was silent, the only sound in the car was our breathing and our heartbeats, that was until Mason shifted in his seat, eyes going from the rearview to the side mirrors in rapid movements.

“What’s going on?” Theo sat forward, eyes trained on the side of Mason’s head but he didn’t say anything, not yet, not even as he stepped on the gas. It was the glow of rapidly approaching headlights that had both me and Theo turning in our seats. “Going a little fast, dont'cha think?”

“I don’t think that’s a car,” Mason whispered, the terror in his voice had me looking at him. “It just… There’s no corners, it’s a straight, flat road. It came out of nowhere.”

And it was gaining.

Theo patted the headrest, eyes locked on the approaching headlights. “Go faster.”

“I’m going sixty! It’s a dirty road, Theo, there’s rocks!” 

Theo grabbed the front of his shirt and crowded in by his ear. “Mason… GO… Faster!”

Mason stepped on the gas, and if Theo hadn’t been holding on, I swear he would have been plastered to that back window, but we weren’t losing it. Just as the dirt gave way to asphalt, Mason slammed on the brakes, moving Theo again, and he hit the back of my seat so hard, the seatbelt kicking in, locking me into the leather. I lost my breath for a moment.

“What are you doing? Theo growled, but Mason didn’t move, hands white-knuckled on the wheel.

“Testing a theory.”

“What?” 

I finally unbuckled, turned in the seat and saw the moment the headlights stopped. They hovered there in the darkness. I knew what Mason was testing and I quickly unbuckled and got out of the car.

“Dunbar, so help me…” But Theo was right out there the next second. We both stood, facing the car… or what would have been a car but… “There’s nothing there.”

Mason got out, albeit a bit slower, and the three of us stared at the floating headlights. You would have never known in the darkness of a new moon that there was nothing behind them, not unless you could see in the dark. As it was, the brake lights were bright enough to show the lack of an outline of a car.

“What… the fuck?” Mason whispered, and suddenly the phantom lights went in reverse, slowly fading into the darkness until there was nothing left.

“I hate this place.” Theo grumbled, but it was so monotone that I didn’t have time to register that he was actually scared before he got in the car and slammed the door. I turned, eyes going to Mason, who slowly turned to meet mine. 

“Food?” I shrugged, because what the hell was that? Mason nodded, eyes wide and got back in the car. I took a deep breath, gaze going back to the strange stretch of dirt and shook my head, before ducking into the car.

~~~~~

At the hotel, the three of us got comfortable in our suite, Theo taking the pull-out couch that rested by the front door. My bed was the next in line and Mason took up the one by the window. Okay, it was a  _ suite _ per se, but a room with a small living area, and no kitchen. 

The bathroom door opened, steam came pouring out, and there was Theo, towel drying himself in a pair of shorts. There wasn’t anything physically wrong with him, but something was definitely off. He had been quiet since the road, barely spoke over dinner, where Mason and I sat chatting about Cooper, and barely made a sound when he got into the room and went directly into the bathroom.

Mason was investigating feverishly on the laptop, tucked into one of the small chairs in the far corner of the room away from the front door. He had notebooks out, different sites up, and I’m pretty sure he was texting someone on his phone.

I, on the other hand, was watching the posts Jai was making from the Gala. Most of them had food, the free booze, and a couple of the guys there dressed in black tie, but a lot were of her and Gwen. Sometimes actually posing together, sometimes in shots that Gwen didn’t even know she was taking, but the one that I was stuck on was her with the zoo as a backdrop. She was high above out on a balcony and while she looked relaxed, I could almost see the tenseness in her eyes, but the way the zoo was lit up was amazing.

“We should call her,” was the first words I had heard from Theo in hours. I glanced over at him only to find he wasn’t even looking in my direction. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, eyes locked on the tee-shirt in his hand and he pulled it quickly over his head and down. That was when he made eye contact. “Look, you know how I feel about…” He broke it for a minute before sighing… loudly… and looked at me again. “The woman in white, cool. I can get behind that. It’s a long dark road. The ghost car, sure… that can be a thing, but there was something else out there.”

“The thing you picked up on?” Mason was clever. He usually didn’t tell Theo when he was watching, when he even noticed the chimera’s moods, but he had definitely been paying attention.

“Yeah, whatever that was. It was real. It had a scent, it moved like a… like us.” Theo drew in a breath and shook his head. “If I thought we could take care of it, I wouldn’t even suggest it, but they’re close, and we’re going to need help.”

“We could walk away.” I shrugged, because why not? I knew what his answer would be, but I had to suggest it.

“No way.” The smug smile was on his face in an instant. “We haven’t had something like this in a long time. It’s been quiet at home, too quiet, and it’s getting under my skin.”

“Okay.” I nodded, but turned to Mason for validation. The look on his face said it all. “Okay, we’ll call them in the morning.” Theo seemed… relieved… when he put his elbows to his knees and dropped his head to his chest. “Hey,” this caught his attention, “wanna come stalk her Instagram with me?”

Theo smirked, but got up and moved to the empty side of the bed. He flopped back on the bed, put his right arm under his head, and snatched the phone from me. That was as good as it was going to get with him and seeing him relax, and I’d take it, even if I didn’t really understand the relationship between them.

~~~~~

By the time eleven came around the next morning, Mason was still sleeping, I had gotten breakfast for the three of us and Theo had been out on a run… twice. Currently, he was pacing the room, silently as not to wake Mason, with my phone in his hand. I was sitting at the table, going over Mason’s notes with a bit of fear. There was more on that road than just the two things we found last night.

I was the one to break the silence. “Why did you steal my phone again?” 

Ever think you can  _ hear  _ someone roll their eyes at you? 

“I lost mine,” he admitted quietly, which was weird for him. He usually didn’t care if he woke anyone up, especially if he was getting antsy. “When we made for the brush, it dropped out of my pocket. I didn’t notice until I went to find you.”

“So, we gotta go back.” His only response was a quick nod. “What are you doing with mine?”

“I’m gonna…” he cleared his throat. “I’m gonna call Jai.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, I think.” 

That didn’t sound so sure.

“You don’t have to be afraid of her.”

“I’m not.” Direct and to the point, and very  _ not _ afraid, maybe I misread it. “Total opposite, actually.”

“Sorry, you just never talk about her except to tell me that you need space from her.”

“She’s just intense.”

“Like Gwen?”

“Something like that.” And that was the end of that conversation. He stopped in the middle of the floor, looked down at the screen before steadying himself and dialed the number. His eyes met mine as he brought the phone to his ear.

I heard the moment it connected. There was no going back.


	2. Jai

**Jai**

The vibration of the phone on the nightstand wasn’t so much heard as it was felt because of the wine hangover I had. I don’t know why I drank the stuff, this happened every time. 

Red wine made me feel like my body was dried out, along with the weird hangover headache. It wasn’t like normal ones, that throbbing pain that came with nausea and potential concussion symptoms, nope this one was more like feeling everything more. Like the way the phone vibrated across the fake wood nightstand. 

I flipped the covers off my head and instantly regretted it. The small line of light from the almost midday sun seemed to shine in like a beacon, and I rolled my eyes, turned to my right and stared at Gwen’s sleeping body, nestled among pillows and blankets and WAY too many stuffed animals. I knew it was going to happen, which was why I was glad we “rented” a car. 

She always left this damn thing with too many fake animals. Though, I guess it was better than her stealing the real ones, which she attempted to do one year claiming the koala just  _ needed a new view _ . 

Not sure how she got out of that one, but I was impressed. Might have been the large check she wrote. 

Either way, she was quietly breathing under the warmth of her nest and I was feeling the sounds of that damn phone. I reached for it, fumbled, and reached again, not bothering to take in the number before I put it to my ear, just to shut it up.

“What? It’s…” I looked at the clock. Eleven? It was eleven? “Too fucking early, so this better be good.”

“Hey, Jai.” The husky voice on the line, the one that sounded nervous, excited, terrified, stripped bare just from two words whispered to me and that had me sitting up. Way too fast, but sitting up none-the-less. 

“Theo?” I slipped out of bed, moved in just a tank and shorts to the bathroom -- California weather always threw me off -- and grabbed the flannel on the chair on the way by. Closing the door, I sat in the darkness, grabbed a towel and wrapped it around my legs as I pulled them to me while I hopped up on the counter. “You okay?”

“Yeah… yes.” He sounded… relieved? “We’re… Mason, Liam, and me, we’re in La Mesa.”

I smiled, because he seemed so out of it. “I have no idea where that is.”

“Fifteen to twenty minutes away,” came Liam’s voice in the background. “Just tell her.”

“Shut up, I’m getting there.”

“Hey, what’s wrong?” I coaxed out of him, which didn’t honestly take much. Theo and I had a very… unusual… relationship.

“So, we’re out here for some downtime,” oh, I could already tell this story was gonna be a good one. “And we kinda stumbled on something.”

“Any of you hurt?” Which really was a stupid question but only two of them had the ability to heal from anything, even if Theo’s was a bit slower.

“No. No, we’re good,” he was smiling, and that was a bit contagious. “Ah, so… yeah, we were hiking yesterday on Proctor Valley Road and got stuck out there after dark.”

“Okay, what was it?”

“How’d you know it was an  _ it _ ?”

“You would have started with ‘come see me’ if it was just you wanting us to come out, not some dramatic opening scene to a movie. So, just spit it out.”

“It was a woman in white,” Liam’s voice invaded the line again, and this time he was closer, so they were sitting right next to each other. “And then…”

“Oh, Gods.” I whispered more to myself as I tried not to close my eyes in the darkness of the small cubical.

“A demon car.” Theo added. 

“You know, I thought Scott and Stiles could find just about every possible bullshit thing to stumble into. I just figured out I was wrong.” I uncurled and moved out into the room again, to hell with this, I needed coffee. “You stumbled onto not one, but two possible hauntings?”

“It gets better.” 

“Oh, Gods.” I repeated, this time running a hand down my face, before grabbing the pot. I moved to the sink, filled it with water and returned to the coffee maker. For a few moments I concentrated on getting my morning fix before I continued. “What could possibly be better than those two things?”

“Mason did some research…” And that stopped me right there. I moved over to Gwen’s bed, and kicked my knee right against her calf, where her leg hung off the bed. The painful groan from the pillows that would usually have me smiling only made me sigh.

“What?” She was snippy, and that was almost a growl. 

“Our Padawans found something worth looking into.” I sighed, moving away. She knew who I was talking about. Calling them the “puppy pack” had lost its humor months ago. She groaned again and flipped over, peeling the blankets from her face. 

“Just two?”

“No, Mason as well.”

“Why does Scott let them out of their cages?” She wasn’t awake enough for this and neither was I. 

“They’re not in Beacon Hills, they’re in La Mesa.”

“I don’t even know where that is.”

“Ugh, fifteen to twenty minutes away.” Liam’s voice boomed over the speaker as I set the phone down after turning it on to concentrate on my coffee. “Morning, Gwen. You looked beautiful last night.”

“Suck up,” I mumbled, bringing the cup to my lips.

“How many did you post?” Gwen was sitting up now, like that was our biggest issue at the moment.

“Lots?” I shrugged, which only got a glare from her. “I sent some to Dean too, so be prepared.”

“UGH!” She flopped back on the bed. “Why are we going to La Mesa?”

“Tacos,” was the only thing I offered.

“Mmm, tacos,” was the whisper from the blankets.

“Besides the two things we encountered last night,” Mason’s sleepy voice spoke out, and that had her attention, “there’s multiple other occurrences on the road. We could use your help.”

“Why? Why not leave it be?” 

“That’s just not how they work.” I offered but it was returned with a glare. “Just saying.”

It was Theo that offered info this time. “There’s something else out there, something real. I could smell it.”

“So gross, you wolves and your noses.”

Gwen stretched in the bed, sat up and stretched some more but she looked at me, shrugging and the only thing I did back was mimic the gesture. 

“Fine. Give us about two hours. Both of us just woke up, and we need sustenance. Mason, send me your research. Liam and Theo… don’t go back out until we get there.” I heard each reply to her in some affirmative way, but I didn’t bother to add my own two cents before they hung up. In fact, it wasn’t until she was sitting at the edge of my bed that I spoke again.

“Can we  _ not _ have a vacation?”

“How is this not a vacation? We came to California, got to go to the zoo, and now we're off on a hike with one of your favorite subjects.” She smirked at me and knew that she had me at the mention of Theo.

“He’s not a subject. He’s…” I clamped down on that one. She didn’t know. Of all the people in the world that I should have told, she didn’t know the reason he was so…so much... and I should have told her, a long time ago, but I brushed it off. “Doesn’t matter, I’m gonna shower, get this damn place cleaned up and figure out where to put all these stupid animals.”

“Then breakfast?”

“Then breakfast.” 

~~~~~

The car was packed, and I was just getting out of the shower -- which was the total opposite of what we had planned -- when Gwen scared the ever living hell out of me. I just stepped out of the bathroom, towel wrapped around my head when she was suddenly right beside me looming like a monster.

I clenched my fist, tensed my arms, and the best I could to glare up at her. It wasn’t easy, I wasn’t nearly awake enough to be all  _ glarish _ , but it worked, because she took a step back and smiled.

“So?” I asked, making my way to the bed and the last set of clothes I had laid out there. The dirty ones would go in a small plastic bag before we headed to the car. In Gwen’s hands was one of her tablets so I knew I didn’t have to wait very long for anything that might have to do with this whole road thing the  _ Monster Squad _ had picked up on. “Any versions we have to sacrifice?”

“Is that an old movie reference?” She mumbled without looking up. 

I stopped dead, tee-shirt in hand, and slowly turned to her. “Please, tell me you’re joking.”

“It’s too damn early for joking.” Her voice was low, menacing and nope, not joking. “You let your puppy wake me up.”

“My  _ puppy _ is just like yours when he wants to be, cute and cuddly, when he’s not trying to rip people's faces off, but that’s Theo so what are you gonna do?” I smiled, and then it fell because… Shit, she wasn’t supposed to know that. “Tell me about this road.”

“The bunker archives didn’t have much, but the manor libraries did.” 

I sat down on the bed, grabbed my socks and pulled them on one at a time before I grabbed my sneakers. Southern California was way too hot for boots. “Yeah, figures your dad would be elbows deep in cross-country lore.”

“Actually, it says the information came from a hunter named Wilkes.” Gwen looked at me like I was expected to know who he was, but I only shrugged. She mirrored the response back and continued as I stood, stuffed clothes into the bag and checked the room over for any stragglers… which meant Gwen’s electronics. “According to his research the land was mostly barren until 1918 when the reservoir was created by the construction of Savage Dam.”

“Why do people need to name their stuff something ominous like that, it’s just asking for trouble.” I grabbed my flannel, slipped it on and rolled up the sleeves as I stood by the door. “This house is clean. Let’s go.”

“That reference I know, though I would have preferred you  _ not _ use a movie with an evil clown in it.” 

I smirked at her. “How about haunted French Pancakes? There’s an IHop on Fenton Parkway, not more than five minutes from us.”

“How is it that I do all the work and you find all the food?” 

I laughed at this when she walked past me, but gave one last look inside before I closed the door and headed towards the gray Rogue that sat in the parking spot. It wasn’t a borrowed car this time, well, not borrowed in the way we usually do. We rented it once we set the plane down at the airport. Can’t show up at a Gala in a stolen car, can we? But I had to say, it got shitty gas mileage for roaming the city and I’m kinda glad the boys called to get us out of it.

~~~~~

Any IHop that you walk into will look like home to a weary traveler, of course we had been in so many that it just looked like any other restaurant we’ve stepped into in the last decade. So to be able to sit, have coffee and order a much needed meal, even if it were crepes in the middle of the day, well… that and coffee was a blessing in of itself. 

Gwen continued with her mission to find out as much about our little Proctor Valley Road Monster Mashup as she could, but she was positive she wasn’t coming up with more than what Mason might, and she was certain that the twenty-six-year-old was on top of research. 

As I dug into my food, my phone beeped, which caused me to look around and shut off the volume. It wasn’t Theo again. This time it was Dean, and I stuck out my hand to Gwen.

“What?” She was way too into that tablet but I still wiggled my fingers at her. “No, I’m not giving you my phone. The last time I did, you sent Dean some really strange texts and I had to explain that waterboarding was  _ not _ a game I like to play.”

“Well, I’m sorry about that, however…” she gave me this look of  _ yeah, right _ and exaggerated a sigh. “He’s texting me, which means you haven't answered at least ten messages, so please, pick up the phone and make contact with the man. It’s too early for Winchesters.”

“Sure it is, but not too early for Raekens.” I waved her off as she pulled the phone from her pocket.

“Completely different, his was a case,” I managed to signal the waitress without even a slip in the conversation, “and I talked to Sam while I was in the shower, you were just too into your stuff to hear me.”

“Thank the Gods,” she didn’t bother looking up from her phone as she typed away. “I don’t want to hear a single thing you and Sam do… ever. I know too much already.” Her eyes narrowed on the phone, almost like his text was confusing and she suddenly turned it in my direction. On the screen was a bloody picture of a ripped up corpse and I slowly lowered the strawberry soaked crepe from my mouth. “What is that?”

“I’m going to assume it’s a person,” I stabbed down into the berry again, and heard the gasp from the couple behind me. “Lower it, will ya? Civilians are trying to eat. What am I looking at?”

I put down the fork and took the offered device just to get a closer look at the damage. Gwen finally started in on her stuffed French toast. 

“They’re trying to figure out the gouge patterns. Normal animal, or our kind?” 

I zoomed in on one of the particularly brutal ones and hmmed, which only got more noises from the people behind me before I handed it back. “Normal, looks like a mountain lion.” She _ pffted _ at me. “I’m serious this time, the raking pattern would match one of a feral lion. What are they doing up on B.C. Island anyway? Sam could have easily looked up that info on his own.”

“Apparently, there was a Bigfoot,” and I almost spit out my breakfast, but managed to giggle around it instead. 

“Those cats probably ate it.” 

“Touche.” Gwen typed back to him quickly before putting it face down on the table. “Are you really up for seeing him?”

“Who? Theo?” I glanced at her over the rim of my coffee cup. “I’m always up for seeing him, that’s not why I’m so hesitant about it.”

“Then what?” 

I shook my head, concentrated on my food and hoped she’d drop it. “It’s nothing, we just have a… it’s personal.”

“And when have you ever kept something personal from me?”

“I never told you about that time that Dee and I spent the night in the bell tower of a church in Utah, did I?” I smiled and she rolled her eyes. “I mean we were pretty hot and heavy, but when the Pastor’s kid…”

“Stop. Stop right there.”

“What he was like twenty-five, totally legal.” 

Her face started to turn bright red and I laughed, going back to my breakfast. That was when the people behind me got up in a huff and the older woman leaned over the seat and whispered not so softly in my ear. 

“You should be ashamed of yourself.” She was snippy about it, but I slowly turned and looked her straight in the eyes and grinned.

My reply: “Maybe you shouldn’t bathe in thirty-year-old Avon perfume before you walk into public, and people might not go to extreme lengths to get your old ass out of here. The rest of us need to breathe, thank you very much.”

She made some sort of offended noise before stomping away. I could hear it from where we sat how she complained to the manager, who took care of her breakfast so she didn’t have to pay. Customer service… I’d be horrible at it. It wasn’t long after before he was standing in front of our table.

“Excuse me, we just had a customer complaint about a discussion at this table.”

“I’m sorry,” I sat back dabbed at the syrup on my lips and put the napkin down before I pulled a badge case from my pocket. Flipping it open, I smiled as his eyes went wide. My favorite... National Fish and Wildlife. “It was rude and I apologize. I thought we were keeping the conversation low enough. My partner and I are investigating a rash of animal attacks in the city, however, between us...” I leaned in, and so did he, “I don’t think it’s an animal.” 

So many people wanted to believe in monsters and I watched him shift on his feet. “What do you think it is?”

“I’m not sure yet,” and I sat back, as he wrung his hands together. “Again, I apologize, this is just a very important case. You’ve heard of the issues just outside the city, right?”

“Oh,” his eyes got wide and he looked flush, “yes. Is that what you’re here for? My God, thank you for coming in. I have a cousin who lives out that way and they’re terrified. Here. Let me take care of your check, and don’t worry about that lady, the waitress could barely stand coming to the table.”

“No, it’s…” 

“I insist. Do you need more coffee? Another hot chocolate perhaps,” and Gwen narrowed her eyes at me but nodded politely to the man. He scurried off without another word.

“That wasn’t nice.”

“Never said I was nice,” I shrugged and went back to breakfast. “Point for me, though. You got lunch.” I winked as I stuffed my mouth and she rolled her eyes, accepting the hot beverage.

~~~~~

From there it took less than fifteen minutes to get to La Mesa. The thought of asking the boys for the exact meet-up place never even crossed my mind when she pulled up a picture of the most gaudy bedspread I had ever seen in a hotel, and if memory served, there were Coca-Cola ones in Baraboo, but it didn’t come close to these.

We pulled into the Heritage Inn not long after two pm, an hour later than expected but hey, there are just things a lady has to do, like have an extra serving of crepes at the expense of IHop. That doesn’t happen often.

I leaned my head against the steering wheel when we finally came to a stop in front of the office and groaned, stomach gurgling and churning. 

Gwen only grinned. “Should have stopped while you were ahead, huh?”

“Shut up and get us a room.” I didn’t even bother looking at her, just closed my eyes. It wasn’t long after that the door to the car closed and I was in blissful silence, until the phone buzzed. I glanced at the screen, a smirk on my face and pushed the button. I had gotten the settings to mostly go to speaker as soon as I accepted, this time it actually worked. “My puppy love.”

“I wish you wouldn’t say that.” Theo grumbled, like the annoyed child he might have been, but it was very rarely and mostly when we were miles out with no one in sight that I got any other emotion from him except sarcasm and huffy anger. Today we were just going with annoyance, and it was already set up to be a running theme. “Are you outside? I can smell you.”

“That’s not creepy at all.” I rolled my eyes, tipped my head back, and watched him lean over the third-floor balcony scanning the parking lot for me. He must have gotten the hint when Gwen opened the door. “Gray Rogue, just below you to your left.”

“I’ll be down.” The call disconnected and he disappeared. 

I fought with my drowsy self to get out of the car, and leaned against it as he cleared the last of the steps, moved towards me with purpose and suddenly wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me in close. If anyone else had seen this, or been present, Theo would have kept his distance, but since there wasn’t a soul in sight, his face was pressed against my neck, breathing in deeply. 

I let myself indulge and pet a hand through his hair, before letting it land on the back of his neck, giving it a good squeeze before returning the embrace. Theo was a fascinating creature. The darkness inside me called out to him, responded to him, but in such a strange way. He calmed it, in a manner that I never understood, similar to the others Gwen swore I “adopted,” but so much deeper than anyone else. 

I turned my head just a bit, let my lips land on the warm skin of his neck and gave him a gentle peck there, inhaling the way he always smelt, which had always made me want to ask what kind of body wash he used, or cologne, but I had never found anything close to the scent of his skin.

Gwen cleared her throat loudly from the other side of the car, and I could feel Theo shake. He lifted his head and even if I couldn’t see it, I knew he was staring. “Easy wolf-boy,” she teased, “those sparklers are going to attract unnecessary attention.”

He lowered his head again at being scolded. “Sorry.”

“No need, I get it. I deal with Derek.” Gwen stepped to my right, giving me a chance to see the smug smile on her face, like she had caught something private, and she held out a key card. “Third floor right next to “a couple of rowdy boys,” he hopes we don’t mind.”

“I don’t know,” I cupped my hands the best I could on Theo’s face, moving him back so I could look into those blue eyes, “I kinda like rowdy boys.” He stared intensely but gave a shy smile, even turned a little pink and looked away. “Come on, you can help with the bags.” 

I let him go and kept my eyes locked on his movements as he stepped up beside Gwen.

“Want me to call Liam?” He waited as Gwen opened the trunk and handed him two duffels, but his eyes were wide at the amount of stuffed animals in the trunk. That caused me to step but beside him.

“No, tell him to save his strength,” I patted him on the shoulder. “You’re gonna need it when she wants all of them up there later.”

With a sarcastic roll of his eyes, he glanced at the room number on the card in my hand and headed up to the third floor after grabbing another bag. I leaned against the trunk, hands in the back pocket of my jeans and cocked my head just a bit to watch him go. Gwen hit my arm squarely with her knuckles, getting not only a pained scowl from me, but my attention as well.

“Ow, you’re violent.” I teased, rubbed my arm and gave her a stupid grin. She shook her head, and handed me another duffle, this one with my journal, some of my clothes and a laptop inside, in addition to my backpack.

“You should watch how you look at him… for that, you deserve a punch in the arm.” She grabbed her bags and closed the trunk, then listened as it beeped twice, locked up tight as we followed the same path Theo took. 

“Yeah, well, it’s not that way, not with him.” I knew at some point I was going to have to explain everything to her before she got the wrong idea. It wasn’t that he wasn’t attractive because Theo was right up there with the rest of my “can I keep them” tribe, but it wasn’t sexual with Theo, there was something… deeper, more intimate than sex. “Plus, I don’t think Sam would be okay with me keeping that one that way.”

“But he’s okay with Peter?” She almost rolled her eyes when she said his name, I could hear it, even if she actually liked the lurky werewolf. 

“Well, since that’s not sexual either, he’s perfectly fine with it. How are the boys with Derek?” I laughed, “and you can’t tell me Dean’s not a bit curious either. I mean, light eyes… dark hair… not to mention he can shift.”

“Okay, stop.” She huffed. “Yes, they’re okay with it because just like you, it’s not that way.” 

She had told me that before. Derek was more of a tactile need, not a sexual one. The way they were was strangely intimate in a weird and almost pack-like connection, and since the boys openly trusted us, and we openly trusted them, it worked. Peter and Derek fit into our oddly growing family perfectly. How, well that was a mystery no one could figure out. It just worked.

Now Theo was different. Not only had Sam and Theo talked, but they met, and as much as I would have liked to tell Gwen that too, the circumstances behind that little meeting wasn’t the best in the world. I really needed to tell her. To get everything out in the open, because I needed her to be there for him too, just in case.

We topped the steps of the third floor and there was Theo, leaning against the railing like he had been waiting a year, or he thought life was some sort of photoshoot because he just looked so casual. With a quirk of his lips, one that I could see as we moved closer, he suddenly straightened and whispered.

“Liam, they’re here.” 

The door to 309 flung open and the little wolf… okay, let it be known that he was  _ at least _ twenty-six but would always be the baby wolf of the pack to me. He seriously was the youngest and in the time we had known him, still acted very much like a teenager, especially when he whipped out onto the balcony past Theo and picked me up in a hug, backpack and duffle included.

“Okay, Pup, put me down, I can see over the banister and that’s not going to go well if you keep squeezing.” I huffed out even as I wrapped my arms around him. 

These boys and their touching.

“Oh, yeah, sorry.” Liam slowly lowered me, but the arms that suddenly braced me from tripping back on my own feet were definitely Theo’s, warm and familiar.

“I'm good.” I patted his hand as he slowly slipped back.

I was given the opportunity to watch the most awkward and endearing thing I had ever seen. Gwen letting a shy Liam actually hug her. AND she returned it. He sweetly looked up at her from under his lashes, like some little boy with a crush, smiled and whispered a “Hi, Gwen,” before she opened her arms and he rushed in. 

Jeez, I didn’t think the pictures were  _ that _ good, but since his little comment that morning about her appearance at the Gala, I wouldn’t expect anything less right now. 

It was Mason that made me wonder if we might need to call Cas just in case for an emergency resurrection. His big brown eyes were wider than I had ever seen him and his chocolate skin turned a little bit on the paler side as his hands came up to his mouth, covering the little  _ oh, my God _ that I could make out by the way his jaw moved. 

Gwen looked at me as Liam stepped back, and it was one of  _ those _ looks, almost asking me if he really was reacting that way and I had to look away, turning right into Theo’s chest to giggle without her really getting pissed at me. 

I managed to get my shit together just in time to see the product of his approach, the wide grin on his face as she embraced him as well. The difference between a Liam hug and a Mason embrace, you could actually see the only human in their trio vibrating with excitement. That didn’t mean that Liam wasn’t grinning so wide his face must have hurt, but Mason’s reaction was contagious. 

Have I ever told you how Gwen smiled? Well, you would have had to be there to really experience it. It was bright, happy, and something I hadn’t really seen in quite a while. 

I stepped forward, finally breaking the reunion on the balcony because we were only three-stories up and I was way too close to the edge. 

Theo grabbed the bags he brought up, Liam took the ones I was holding and it was like herding children with the way that Mason and Gwen suddenly had their heads together talking, as I shuffled past them to the room door. 

Throwing it open, I flipped on the light and took in the Gods-awful quilted pattern of the bedspreads. Red, blue, white, and some strange lime green, stitched in with a yellow flowered pattern, they blotted out everything  _ nice _ about the room, and didn’t match the paintings  _ AT ALL _ . 

It was fucking perfect, even more so when the four behind me piled in, talking loudly, dropping bags and flinging open curtains from the window. I leaned against the door, drew in a deep breath of oddly clean motel air, and smiled.

This was going to be a very long day.


	3. Gwen

**Gwen**

To say I was surprised at my own reaction to Liam would be a bit of an understatement. I had watched as the young man wrapped around Jai and picked her up. I also watched her pale when she caught sight of the parking lot over his shoulder, but she hugged him back. She wasn’t really a hugger, okay I take that back, she was when she wanted to be and with only a few people. Apparently, these three were part of the few.

It was when he turned his sights on me that I found myself not even debating for a second to open up my arms and accept a warm embrace from him. Liam, like the rest, was about five-ten, with Theo matching his height, but they were still shorter. It was familial, and I imagined that if I had a younger brother, this was what it might feel like to greet him after a long time apart. However, it had only been a few months since we had seen him last. 

His joy was contagious, I guess, because the welcome lasted until I happened to look up at Mason Hewitt, who stood just outside the doorway of their shared room. Mason was one of the most amazing men of his age that I had ever had the pleasure of meeting, though I should say that we didn’t meet many in our travels that dealt with things he had suffered through since high school. The fact that he was close friends with not only a werewolf but a banshee and a chimera, well, that in itself was something unique.

He was also one of the brightest minds I had come across. Stiles was good, he helped a lot when it came to figuring out important details, but he worked like Jai, so they meshed well together, which meant we had little contact. Lydia, who I had the pleasure of meeting during an oddly fascinating trip to MIT earlier this year, was on my level as well. She was smart, and it definitely showed when we were able to take care of a case -- just the two of us since Jai was off on a mission alone -- without any outside help but our own. 

But Mason.

The way his skin paled just a bit worried me but the moment his arms were tightly clasped around me, I knew why. He was shaking with excitement. I took a few long moments to enjoy the comfort, equating it to what I might have felt when Derek first held me, something safe and familiar, but this was just a bit different as it wore on. A kinship, maybe.

It was Jai -- of course -- who broke it when she squeezed past and opened the door to the room. Bags were grabbed, bodies moved, which was mostly Liam and Theo trailing after her, but Mason stepped back, a smile on his face and he placed a hand on my shoulder.

“It’s so good to see you again.” 

“I agree.” I never said I was the best at expressing my emotions but Mason seemed to understand. “You certainly picked a good spot to get away from all the craziness of Beacon Hills.”

“Tell me about it.” He was very nonchalant about it, rolling his eyes like I might do when answering. “It’s like we can’t escape.”

“I looked up some information about the surrounding area, but come on,” there was a loud noise of disgust from the room, “let’s go see what’s got Jai up in a tizzy.”

Mason and I had developed a different sort of friendship. After the  Leannán Sí, we had traveled to Beacon Hills a few more times, but even for those it was more of passing through. It was during the first romp through, when Scott was out with Peter doing Gods-knows-what on the other side of Beacon County, and Derek was managing a transaction in Sacramento, that we stumbled upon the three of them. 

Actually…

They stumbled upon us, and our free access to Derek’s loft. Of course, the moment we entered town, our own Deputy Stiles had seemed to sense it. He arrived at the loft not more than ten minutes after we had settled -- Jai taking over Peter’s room, me in the bedroom on the first floor -- and it was the silent alarm that announced his arrival. 

Jai looked up from a cup of coffee in her hands to the door sliding open to see Stiles there, huffing as if he had just run up all five flights of stairs, but it was who was behind him that got her attention. Stiles seemed to deflate when he saw us standing about the room, especially when I stood with a large tome in my hand.

“You guys are going to be the death of me,” he groaned out, and moved into the room flopping down on the couch. I watched as Mason, Liam, and Theo came in but it was the way that Jai stood straight, eyes on something behind them that made me curious. Stiles was the one that spoke up though. “What are you looking at?”

“Who’s that?” She placed the mug on the table, reached behind her back for the gun, and stepped around the island, instantly being met by a swiftly moving Theo, and I only knew it was him from the memory of the hospital. To anyone else, he would be intimidating, puffed out and claws showing, but Jai reached out, eyes narrowing on him, and she touched him. That’s all it seemed to take, one small press of her hand to his sternum and Theo seemed lost. She never broke the stare when she finally spoke. “I’m not going to hurt him, I just want to know who he is.”

I still wasn’t sure who exactly she was talking about, but Theo stepped aside, which got a whisper of his name in disbelief from Liam, and a raise of a hand from Theo, as if telling him everything was alright. Jai took her hand off the gun, held them both up, and totally ignored the other two in the room as she moved to the stairs and stopped.

“What is she doing?” Stiles’ question was just thrown out there before he looked pointedly at me. “Gwen, what is she doing?”

“I honestly don’t know.”

“What’s your name?” 

And that got my attention, even more so when a young man with dark hair shimmered into being, staring right down at her with confusion in his eyes.

“Corey,” was the only thing he whispered out before looking up at Mason, who quickly made his way over. “How did you see me?”

“Hi,” the dark-eyed one introduced, essentially placing himself between Corey and Jai, even though I could see that he wasn’t in any danger. “This is Corey, my boyfriend, and you are…”

She narrowed her eyes at him, and I knew this stance. It was one of assessment, though this time it was more for show than anything. She knew who they were. Stiles stood suddenly and made his way over, placing his hands on Jai’s shoulders.

“She’s Jai.” He smiled, turned her, and guided her back towards the counter where her coffee sat. “And she’s had a very long drive, I’m guessing, and really needs her caffeine. Am I right?” His voice lowered a little, concentrating on the hunter in his sights. “Hmm? Coffee time, isn’t it Jai?”

“Stiles,” she groaned, but relented and moved with him, letting him dote over her for a while. 

My eyes were back on Corey and Mason, and the human saw this. He took Corey’s hand and moved him further into the room, closer to me. I didn’t move, I wanted to see what was next.

“If that’s Jai, you must be Gwen.” Mason smiled, beamed actually, which had Liam and Theo’s interests piqued. “This is Theo,” who shifted, but more back towards the island where Stiles was than towards me. “Liam,” and the young werewolf sought out Theo for a moment before stepping between the two, halfway from Mason and the chimera behind him. “And I’m Mason. You’re Derek’s friends, right? The hunters?”

The unsettled movements of Theo and Liam had me debating my answer. “Yes?”

“Oh, my God!” Mason’s excitement just flowed from him and he dropped Corey’s hand to move closer. “That’s fantastic. Finally!” He stood closer than I was comfortable with, hand outstretched, for just a moment before he stepped back, and that hand dropped. “Sorry. Sorry, um, Peter just talks about you a lot and I really wanted to meet you.”

“Peter?” There was a story there, but Jai just made some weird pffting noise as Stiles talked to her. She only gave me a shrug when I turned to her for answers. “Peter doesn’t like me.”

“Well, he sure as hell talks about you,” Liam fessed up, “a lot.”

When I glanced at Jai again for some confirmation, she was suddenly in a light three-way conversation with Theo and Stiles, heads close over the counter as Stiles passed Theo a mug of coffee.

It was Mason’s voice that dragged me from the sight of yet another one of the pack irrevocably drawn into the deadly hunter’s orbit. “I have so many questions.” 

… And that’s how Mason and I began, because after that, we didn’t stop talking… about anything. He was like a sponge, wanting to know everything about what we did, and how I researched. It was refreshing.

Jai knew the way I gathered information, she knew what to have handy, and how to present it. Mason was doing postgraduate studies at UC Davis and that opened up a whole new world of information access for me. 

So, here we stand, or sat, after getting over the absolute horror of the quilted bedspreads in our room, with Mason and I sitting at the small table, lit by the sun that poured in through the open curtained window, going over the notes he had from the road.

Jai was lying on her side on the second bed near the bathroom, not that she would sleep there, but she was giving me privacy. Theo stretched out on his back behind her playing absently on the phone, occasionally brushing his fingers over her arm in an effort to take away the discomfort of her overly filled stomach. Liam sat on the other bed, facing her as they chatted about the events of the night before, bouncy as he used his arms in wild gestures for emphasis.

“Where’s Corey?” I whispered, as Mason brought up the map of the road on my laptop. His notebooks, three of them, were scattered around the table, but he hadn’t brought over his own due to space. I’d rather have it on mine anyway. Easier access.

“Um, working.” Mason had this habit of nodding when he answered a question, or shaking his head when something was off, it was just his quirk, but I could see the emotions in his eyes. “Yeah, he couldn’t get the time off for this, and honestly, with Liam’s problems, it’s best that it’s just us. He can get a little scary.”

“Liam’s having problems?” 

Mason glanced back to see how into the story his best friend was, then leaned in closer. “Something happened a year ago that kinda triggered his I.E.D. He thought he had it well under control, and Theo helped with that… a lot… but it’s just gotten worse, to the point where he shifts sometimes without meaning to. This was supposed to be a break for him. I mean, it’s great really because there’s no one else really that can distract him like the two of you. I mean, lately there’s Sam, but…”

“Sam?” This was news to me, “like Jai’s Sam?” 

“Oh… Shit, ah, yeah. She didn’t tell you?” 

“Does she even know?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. I guess there was an issue in Columbus, and Liam doesn’t really like to talk about it, but Sam helped him, like  _ really _ helped him through something rough. He goes to him now… it’s like a big brother situation, especially since Scott’s been a little unapproachable lately. So, yeah, Liam talks to Sam. But… anyway,” Mason fidgeted in his seat. That boy said “really” a lot more than necessary. “Theo and I thought getting him away from anything that might trigger him would be a good idea, at least for a while, so we’re here, and then I think we’re talking about the Grand Canyon.”

“Good job finding a place that isn’t like home.” I teased him and this actually got him to smile, which was what I wanted. 

“Right.” But he was still grinning. “So, this road?”

The information he had gathered was spot on with most of what I was able to collect when doing an internet search of the area. He came up with some valid references mostly about the demon car, which was still unexplained but the theory was just like most. An accident while playing chicken had caused the vehicle and the driver to be trapped inside while it burned, essentially giving us something like a vengeful spirit, or along the lines of the ghost truck that Sam and Dean had taken on in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. 

This might have made it fairly easy to figure out how to get around it, however, Mason had said it stopped at that asphalt line, so there was something strange about that. Meaning, the only reason for the pavement at that point in time was that they had started paving the road but never finished.

The next one was the woman in white, but she went by another name, “Proctor Road Hitchhiker,” -- which only made me think of Route 44 in Rehoboth -- and the stories were always similar. She died on the road, either by accident or by violence, and usually the accident always happened on the night of some grand affair. This one happened to be prom night. Not sure why anyone would want to travel a desolate road after such a big event, but I never really understood people.

“Cooper helped me with some of it too,” Mason shook me from my internal rambling, as he glanced at the three on the beds, who were now in some other type of conversation with Jai leading. “I texted her last night about this. I know you guys were at the Gala, so, I didn’t think you would answer but… She said there was something else.Two deaths, at least, one in 83’ and one in 78’, one male, one female. The female might explain the woman in white, but I don’t think it would explain what happened next.”

“So, you have a demon car, and a woman in white, both pretty easily taken care of, but now you’re hitting me with something else? Why?” I wasn’t scolding him, I was running through his thought process. 

“Theo.” He practically whispered the boy’s name and we both looked over at the smirking man, who seemed lost in whatever story Jai was fabricating before Mason turned to me. “He kinda freaked out. He wouldn’t tell us what was going on, he really... he just… It was weird.”

“Tell me more about this Cooper that you mentioned. Is she a hunter?” I didn’t want to dive into my own research if Theo hadn’t even told him what he sensed out there. I guess I was cornering the chimera before this day was over.

“She’s awesome, you’d like her. She studied a lot of places, even lived in Scotland. She knows a ton of stuff about druids, which makes sense because I met her in Beacon Hills first and then we met up again at UC Davis.” 

“You met her in Beacon Hills?” This had me curious now, because if Mason knew her from their supernatural-touched hometown, why didn’t… “What about Liam and Theo?”

“No,” he shook his head, “I mean, I don’t think they knew her, they never really mentioned it if they did. Except Liam’s pretty hung up on the Halloween she had him cornered, but we were…  _ I _ was already at Davis by that point. I know this, when she was in town, she was spending a lot of time in the town library, which was where I met her and I don’t think I ever saw Liam go in there, he was kinda stuck on using the high school one.”

“Okay, that makes sense.” It really did when I thought about it. If there was no reason to enter the main town library, which there wasn’t by my experience, then that was a valid reason why Liam had little contact with her. “What about Theo?”

“Theo? In a library?” Mason started to laugh, but as his eyes landed on the man who was now lying with his head on Jai’s lap, her hand casually going through his hair as he, yet again, was playing on his phone, well… Liam’s phone from what I understood, the laugh faded. “You know, I really don’t know how he knows all the stuff he does. I mean, I get that he grew up with scientists, not that they were the most sane, and one of them was practically three-hundred years old, but he knows  _ a lot. _ ”

“So, we’ve established that Theo isn’t an idiot, that’s good, but that doesn’t tell me if you think he would know Cooper.” I smiled at him, at least tried, because an unknown hunter -- and she was a hunter -- didn’t sit well with me at all. And with Jai, that unknown and unease could be a lethal combination. 

“I don’t think he knew her, and I don’t think he _ knows _ her, I mean more than he knows most things.”

“He sounds very confusing, no wonder they get along so well.” I huffed and sat back, contemplating what was going to happen next. 

Looking over, Liam was now pacing, not for any reason except that he might have felt boxed in and Theo had shifted on the bed to be face to face with Jai. They were in the midst of such a quiet conversation that I could barely make out her voice, but I knew he didn’t need her to be any louder to hear what she had to say. 

Whatever it was, by the look on his face, it was very personal. I wish she would tell me what the hell was going on between them. It didn’t hurt that she had that connection with him, in fact, I applauded it because at least she wasn’t solely relying on me. There were things that Jai needed that sometimes I couldn’t give her, a side of her that needed peace that I was inept at healing. I wondered if that was what she found with Theo.

“I know,” Mason suddenly spoke up, his voice full of excitement and that got Liam’s attention, and mine, which was shocked away from the interaction of the two on the bed. With my eyes focused on his, he smiled, and that would never be a good thing. “We should go back out to the road.”

“Why would we do that?” And I knew instantly that Liam wasn’t going to be a fan.

“We should scout it out, you know, during the day, see if we can find anything.”

“Like my phone.” Theo added to the conversation, the tone of it was anything but happy. Jai just giggled. It was specific, like she agreed with the plan, and I knew she would the moment it left Mason’s mouth. She always wanted to scout, to put herself in the thick of it but this time…

I offered my opinion, “that’s not such a bad idea.” 

“Whoa,” Jai smirked, “I like what this kid does for you.”

Glaring at her, she hopped off the bed, reached a hand down for Theo, who batted it gently away, and then slipped past Liam to her backpack. 

I shook my head, stood, and huffed. “We should probably go now while there’s still enough light.” 

“I agree.” Mason scrambled up, stacking his notebooks as he moved but it was Liam that didn’t budge, looking a little perplexed in the middle of the room. “What?”

“You think we’ll see her in the middle of the day?”

“While spirits are present at all times, the main reason they appear after dark is due to the absences of a spectrum caused by the sun,” Jai spouted off as she searched her backpack. “Apparitions are more likely to appear at night because the energy collected by the ground around them radiates enough to form a corporeal-ish being that lets you see through the veil.”

I rolled my eyes. She had a way of making up bullshit that even the most intellectual minds would believe. It wasn’t a far cry for Liam to nod and take her explanation as fact just to ease his own anxiety. 

She almost ruined it when she walked by, pat him on the arm and whispered, “don’t worry, Theo will keep you safe,” as she tucked her gun into the space between her jeans and her spine. All you heard from the back of the room was a low growl of annoyance.

“Let’s go.” Theo trudged past the rest of us and out the door. There was a strange smile on Jai’s face as she took Liam’s hand and tugged him along, winking at me as she went.

“Okay, is it me, or do those three have the weirdest relationship?” Mason seemed just as dumbfounded as me.

“I think it’s just the two of them.” If I was being honest… “I don’t think even Liam knows what to do with them.”

The door to the room next door slammed shut as Mason and I collected our bags and headed out to meet them. Theo stood on the balcony, fists clenched, eyes closed, just breathing, but I could hear the running footsteps of the other two on the steps descending to the parking lot.

“Hey,” Mason stepped up to him, “you okay?”

Theo remained silent, but only for a moment before he let out a long breath. “Yeah,” he whispered, then opened his eyes to meet Mason’s, “thanks. She’s just…”

“Intense, over the top, annoying?” I laughed.

“A bit much,” he agreed, and moved past us quietly.

“See, weirdest relationship ever.” 

I barked out a laugh and followed after him.

~~~~~

It was a comfortable ride to the beginning of Proctor Valley Road, and it was Mason’s insistent patting on Jai’s shoulder that not only earned him a scowl in his direction but also had her pulling off just before the pavement ended.

She put it in park and whipped around to look at him as he sat in the middle seat. “What?”

“This is where we stopped.” His eyes were wide and I saw the moment Jai gave into the almost innocent way he looked at her. She sighed and turned back around.

“Oh.” Yep, she was putty in his hands now. “So, where to?”

“About a half-mile down.” 

She shifted into drive and stepped onto the gas, giving it a little too much on the dirt road we were suddenly traveling.

“You do know this thing is under  _ my _ name, right?” I snipped and got her to glance over at me as I did my best to sneer in her direction, but she did the most Dean-ish thing, she smiled like a little kid and shrugged her shoulders. There wasn’t even an apology there, she just slowed down… a little. “The rocks are going to cause dents.”

“My ass they are,” she quipped, “this thing is plastic, dents can just be popped out with suction cups.”

“Do I look like I carry suction cups with me?” 

“I mean… do you really want me to answer that?” 

And in the back, I clearly heard Theo make some noise between a scoff and a laugh. 

“Here!” Mason practically yelled in our ears as he leaned forward in his seat. 

Jai slammed on the breaks. I rested my hand casually on the dash, bracing myself but I felt Liam hit the seat behind me and Theo grunt at the sudden force of his seat belt locking against his chest.

“Jesus, you’re worse than Stiles.” He groaned, unbuckling the belt.

“Well, go me! At least I’m worse than him on something. Little bastard’s always trying to show me up.” She was really proud of herself and I wasn’t sure how to take that. Plus, was he showing her up for worst things or best things? I was a little confused, but grabbed the handle and didn’t bother waiting to find out as they struck up a very quiet conversation.

The road was settled in the middle of a large, flat terrain that stretched on for a fairly good distance before it started to grow hilly on one side and dipped down in the other. Mason stretched beside me, as if he had been locked between his friends for hours on end and Liam shifted nervously in his spot, one finger on his lips, the other crossed protectively over his chest. 

I turned, surveying the land, and watched as Jai bopped her head to whatever song was on repeat in her mind and something told me I knew exactly what it was, but she wasn’t singing out loud… yet. 

Theo was the one that really caught my attention. His eyes were set southwest, his body was rigid and his fists were clenched. It wasn’t hard to see that something in the area was affecting him but Jai was still too close for me to approach comfortably. He was a little too protective for my taste, reminding of the way that Peter seemed to hover around her but, as I watched, I realized, maybe it wasn’t him being the protective one.

“Jai,” I called out, catching her attention and her wide light eyes were on me in a second, a silent  _ what? _ written clearly on her face. “Go walk with Liam and Mason and get an idea of where the woman was.”

“Sure thing.” She hopped away, but I saw the way her fingers ran over Theo’s crossed arms, getting only a small shift in his eyes at her before it went right back to whatever it was he had zeroed in on, just as she yelled, “Hey, Baby Wolf, wait up!”

She grabbed Liam’s hand and swung them together before I suddenly heard exactly what I feared coming from her mouth in an effort to get the younger werewolf to loosen up.

“ _ On a dark, desert highway, cool wind in my hair…” _ She smiled up at him like he was the sun and all I saw was his head roll back on his shoulders as he started to sing along, the three of them heading off the down the road. I guess anything was better than “ _ Turn the Page” _ which didn’t let up the entire trip once we actually hit east of Omaha.

I stepped up beside Theo with one thing in mind and I wasn’t even sure if I was going to be able to pull it off. I’m the first to admit that I’m not very nurturing, so trying to settle an unstable chimera, one who was teetering on the edge was a little bit of a leap, but then again, I did deal with Dean on a regular basis.

His chest expanded as soon as I stood next to him, but he didn’t look at me. I knew he was well aware of everything going on around him but now even more so with the three that walked ahead. 

“You and I should talk,” I whispered in my best  _ I’m not here to eat you _ voice and watched as he stiffened. I guess that didn’t work as well as I hoped. However, after a few quiet moments of waiting, and Jai belting out the chorus of  _ Hotel California _ off in the distance, Theo melted just a little and put one foot in front of the other. 

“I know what it was, you don’t have to baby me.” His voice was gruff, sarcastic, and I could tell that he didn’t generally have the undivided attention of someone new, and if he did, it didn’t make him happy and it probably wasn’t for a good reason.

“I’m sorry, we haven’t known each other long,” I replied with snark. “My name is Gwen, and I don’t baby anyone, that’s not my job. Please don’t confuse me with Jai.”

His glare snapped in my direction at her name. “She doesn’t baby me either.”

“She does something, I can see it every time she looks at you.”

“It’s not…” he huffed, “what do you want?”

“Tell me exactly what happened last night.”

In the minutes we had started talking, we managed to close some of the distance between us and the trio, but as soon as I asked, he stopped, eyes locking on a specific location and he drew in a deep breath before once again moving forward. 

Up ahead, Mason waved Jai and Liam, who were now talking quite closely, off the dirt road and onto a well-worn path that snaked its way through shrubs and small clusters of plants. It was beautiful out and while still early-ish in the evening, it was beginning to cool down. Jai tugged Liam along, the reluctancy evident in the way he leaned back away from her, but her playful side, which I wasn’t entirely convinced was an act, had him moving in whatever direction she pulled him.

Theo uncrossed his arms -- a good sign -- and stuffed them into the pockets of his jeans before he sighed. “I don’t know what it was, exactly, but I know it was dangerous, especially for Mason.”

“It’s okay, you don’t need to always know your enemy right off the bat, that’s what we’re here for. It’s what we do.” 

“Jai told me the same thing.” Of course she did. “Where do you want me to start?”

“Well, I know the details of the woman from Mason, and the demon car, so why don’t you tell me what happened after the woman disappeared, and I’m not here to judge, so just tell it the way you remember it, and don’t worry if you can’t remember some details, I can pick up a lot just by what you say.”

“Well,” the moment that word left his mouth, the sarcastic look on his face, the mask he wore to keep people at bay fell away, and he was lost in a memory. Here, but not completely present. I stepped closer, a weird feeling of the need to protect him washing over me, and I didn’t like it. “Liam wasn’t with us when Mason and I ducked off the trail. He was further behind. Mason and I were closer to where we are now if that makes sense.”

“It does, since we’re walking your steps backwards. Continue.” 

“She screamed, and it wasn’t like a human, something more high-pitched. Almost like feedback. When she disappeared, I ran to get Liam, make sure he was alright. It was when we finally met up with Mason that I noticed it. We were talking about you and Jai, college, background, stuff, just to fill the silence. It had gotten dark, and even with our eyes, it was hard to see, but I felt it.”

“Describe it.”

Theo did stop this time, but not to gather his thoughts… to take a breath. His eyes flashed a gold color at me and he shook his head.

“It was a warning, like the air was full of it, making it heavy, and the vibration was off. There was a predator in the area, something old. It had chemo signals, anger, no not just that… violent rage. And a scent,” Theo moved away from me, his eyes focused but not on the area as I saw it right now. I followed closely but also cautiously as we stepped off the trail. “Like something old, musty. Damp hair… not… not human hair, something like a cow, or a horse. Dirty.” He moved past several wide bushes, around a patch or two of flowers, on autopilot. He stopped dead in his tracks, eyes going wildly trying to pinpoint something but I saw the moment he extracted his hands from his pockets, and heard the snick of his claws extending. “It’s here. Whatever it is, I can feel it,” he turned to look at me again, “ _ wolfed out _ ” as Jai would put it. Blunt canines extended top and bottom, as his eyes continued to glow. “It’s right here.”

“Easy, killer,” I smirked, moving up beside him and he let out an almost feral noise. Okay, so not the best choice of words. I placed a hand on his shoulder, taking a page from Jai’s book to see if the touch calmed him. Amazingly enough, it did, but once I felt him relax, he shrugged it off. I didn’t remain put to see the way things happened in reverse, but instead started scouting the area cautiously. “Let’s see if we can find anything physical.”

“Like what?” His voice was back to normal, so the fangs had been put away, and he was moving towards me, maybe five feet away. When I glanced over, he was stepping cautiously, eyes to the ground.

“Hair, broken branches that would indicate a trail....”

“Prints?” 

I nodded without looking up. “Prints would be the best thing, at least we’d get…” He had stopped walking and that got me to look up. Theo was squatting, eyes on the ground, elbows to his knees not touching anything but I could tell by his profile that whatever was there seemed to be assaulting his sense. “You found a print.”

“Actually,” he glanced up, that sly smile that almost made you want to smack it off him was there on his face and his blue eyes seemed to glow in the sunlight, “there’s two.” I closed the distance as I stood just to the side of him, looking at the clear human-like footprints in the dusty dirt. It must have been made the day before, these were clear tracks, and I crouched down beside him. “The scent is the strongest right here too.” His nose wrinkled. “It’s gross.” 

Theo stood to yell down to the others, but I reached out, snagging his wrist. He glared at me, but the expression faded as I shook my head, tugging him down again, a finger to my lips.

“Not yet.” 

I slipped my bag from over my shoulder, flipped the flap, and opened it quickly. I could almost feel the warmth of the chimera as he leaned in close to see what I was rummaging through. I pulled out a small Zippo canister that would hook to a keychain containing lighter fluid, matches, a small shaker of salt, a wooden crochet hook, and a small iron bed rail bolt.

The look on Theo’s face was priceless, but I just shrugged. “Listen, when you travel with Jai long enough, you’ll understand.”

The last thing I pulled out was a thin, three-foot, measuring tape usually used for sewing. 

I waved him aside, clearing out more room for me to get to the print and handed him one end of the tape. Without instructions, he knew exactly what to do and brought it to the furthest end of the print. When the tape was stretched the length of it, I snapped a picture.

“Seventeen long.” I moved cautiously to the side and so did Theo, holding it at the widest width, and snapped a picture again, “nine wide.” My eyes went to the wide ones on the chimera. “This isn’t small, how did you not hear it?” 

“I don’t know, I just…”

“Found it!” Liam yelled further down the road, and Theo stood, his thoughts distracted, which caused me to see what all the fuss was about. 

Jai stood in the middle of the path, arms crossed, spectrum blade in hand, eyes cast in the direction of the lake. Mason shifted on his feet looking down at his phone and Liam looked like he was about to start dancing, as he waved what I would assume was Theo’s cell in the air, a big smile on his face.

“Hey, Theo! I found it, and it looks like you have three missed…”

“Holy shit!” Mason snapped loudly, and very excitedly, as if he had just won the lottery. His eyes were about as wide as the smile on his face. “Cooper’s in La Mesa!”


	4. Mason

**Mason**

I sat forward between the seats, smiling at the sight of the blue Charger with the racing stripe that was parked beside mine. The woman that leaned on the trunk was a sight for sore eyes. Her bright red hair shined in the California sun, but she looked like she had just driven at breakneck speed to get here.

When Jai backed the car into the parking spot opposite mine, I saw the look of uncertainty in her eyes, but this was Jai and Gwen, they never seemed sure of any new hunter, or person in their orbit for the first little while. I was hoping to fix that. 

I patted Liam on the chest, got him to open the door and practically jumped over his lap to get out, but I knew he followed because he never really let me get that far when there was a dangerous situation going on. I didn’t even break stride when I wrapped my arms around Cooper and hugged her tightly.

“What are you doing here?”

Her hands rested on my arms and she pushed me back so I could look right into her eyes, one brown, one green, and she smiled. Her eyes went to the others, and I stepped aside, noticing the moment that Cooper went for the asp on her side. Jai’s hand was tucked behind her back, but I knew it wasn’t on the gun she kept there, but the handle of her hell blade.

Slipping between the approaching hunters and Cooper, I shook my head. “They’re here to help. Theo… Theo called them.” 

“Well,” Cooper smiled, hand slipping away from the asp. “At least you were able to get someone down here. I would have hated to see the three of you take on a pair of ghosts alone.”

“Actually, there’s more than a pair.” Gwen spoke up, and that got Cooper’s attention away from Jai. “It seems like they stumbled onto a rarity.”

“Yes, well, that’s my boys.” 

Theo growled and I didn’t quite understand why until I looked up. Jai’s hand was on his arm, and she had placed herself a step in front of him, blocking him from moving towards her. When I looked up at Cooper, she was grinning at the response. 

“Okay, one of them anyway.” 

Liam sighed, walked up to her and hugged her, which was weird to see, and very unexpected since Cooper seemed wide eyed and lost as she hugged him back. “It’s good to see you.”

“You too, Liam.” Cooper glanced at Theo, eyes narrowing on him and Jai’s stance moved one more step in front of him. The smaller hunter’s face never changed, though, she was the epitome of calm. “So, what’s up? What are we doing?”

“Well, this is Jai Lancing and Gwen Bancroft…” I started but was instantly interrupted by a look of pure disbelief.

“Seriously?” Cooper looked as if she were star-struck staring at Gwen, but it was Jai’s scoff that had me rolling my eyes. 

Gwen hadn’t really moved, she was calm, collected, and observing. Jai, on the other hand, while she looked it, was anything but. Theo had stepped forward, his chest pressed against her back as if he were there to protect her now, but Jai had already removed her hand from the hidden weapon. 

My guess was that Cooper just didn’t pose that much of a threat, so I continued. “They’ve helped us out a couple times up in Beacon Hills, and Theo saw they were in the area so… they came over to…”

“Hike,” Liam suddenly spoke up, which only got me to look at him as if he were insane. “They came down to hike the road with us, this was before Mason told us he was texting you. Hey, how long did you drive to get down here? Weren’t you in Reno?”

“Nine hours,” Cooper didn’t hesitate with the drive time, but she was staring at Liam a little skeptical. “Yeah, Mason called, seemed a little strung out, and I thought you boys were down here alone, figured I might as well come and help out, make sure you were alright.”

“Because it’s not like we have fangs and claws of our own.” Theo mumbled, though we could all clearly hear it, and Jai’s lips turned up in a defiant smirk. She relaxed enough to put her back to us and gave Theo a gentle push.

“You know, things can be worked out without you just whipping that out in public.” She teased, and for a moment I saw a genuine smile on Theo’s face as he used his arms to block her. “Come on, I need something from the room.”

“I’ll come with,” Liam volunteered as she steered Theo towards the stairs. No one missed the glance in Gwen’s direction, or the nonverbal communication from the taller hunter.

“That’s an interesting dynamic.” Cooper stuffed her hands in her pockets, opening herself up to Gwen as she leaned on the back of the Charger again. “So, you’re Bancroft?”

“I am,” all of Gwen’s focus was now on Cooper.

“Impressive. I didn’t think you got off the East Coast all that often.” There was a teasing tone there that I could pick up but I wasn’t sure of Gwen. 

However…

“We help out this way once in a while. You never know when a pack of weres are going to need assistance from hunters.” 

“Which is the oddest thing I’ve ever heard of.” Cooper grinned.

“Indeed.” All three of us looked up when Jai gave a loud laugh from the third floor balcony and what we got was that Theo was holding her close to the rail, securely not letting her go. “Mason tells me that you work at Davis.”

“Partly.” I grinned because this was always a good sign when Gwen started talking. “I use it for the lore. Davis has a great library, and with most other California systems hooked up to that one, it gives me access to other libraries in the state. Helps when dealing with things that may not be easily explained.”

“What do you hunt… exactly?” Her eyes didn’t stay on Cooper, but moved to the balcony, waiting. “Most hunters pick a specialty. What’s yours?”

“Vampires, mostly.” 

“I hate vampires.” Gwen sighed. 

Oh, yeah, I could see it. While it probably wasn’t going to be the budding friendship I hoped for, I knew it was at least going to start off on the right foot, at least for Gwen. 

“Same.” 

That was when Jai, Theo, and Liam came bounding down the stairs, and skidded to a halt by the car. Jai’s smile slowly faded as she looked over Cooper, but she gave the best she could when she looked at me. Theo stayed back, and Liam took on his bouncy nature, something that I knew hid the effects of the day.

“We should eat.” Jai suddenly broke the silence. “I’m starving.”

“You’re always starving,” Gwen sighed. “But tacos sound amazing.” 

“Where though?” Liam’s soft voice came out of nowhere and all eyes seemed to turn on me.

“Hey, I don’t know anything about southern California.” I defended myself, raising both hands.

“I do.” Cooper volunteered. “There’s a place in Chula Vista. Good food, good atmosphere, and if you need it, good booze.”

“I’m gonna need it,” Jai sighed out but nodded. “Sounds good to me. G?” Gwen narrowed her eyes, but not necessarily at anything or anyone, it was like she was picturing tacos and she finally nodded. “Okay, everyone pick a car!”

~~~~~

The small gray building with the pinkish pitched roof was not exactly what I had expected when we pulled up to it, Liam still chatting Cooper’s ear off as he sat in the back seat of Cooper’s Charger with me in the front, but apparently, it was exactly what Gwen was looking for. The look of awe in her eyes when she got out of the passenger side of Jai’s car only made me smile. They traveled  _ a lot _ so why was she still surprised when she saw something like this?

Jai immediately had the phone out and I knew what was going to happen, especially when Theo stepped in her shot and flipped her off. That was going to be a beautiful instagram photo, but she only smirked, went about typing away on the phone, and followed blindly.

Liam wasn’t far behind when he hopped out from behind me, fitting between the seat and door when I opened it, just to see what the picture looked like and that left me with Cooper. 

“Are you sure you’re ready for this? The last time I went with Jai and Gwen anywhere for food, it was chaos.”

“Chaos is my middle name.” Cooper slid from the car, making it hard not to follow as I nodded and headed into the restaurant with her. 

I wasn’t wrong.

The six of us were settled in the back corner, Jai in the furthest seat, not trapped, but given a view of every entrance and exit. I had seen her in a spot where she couldn’t see out and it made me uncomfortable to watch her fidget, that and knowing there was a gun stashed on her somewhere was disturbing.

Gwen was seated on the outside, across from her. Theo and Liam in the middle, and me and Cooper on the outside. Hunters seemed to be paranoid people, but at this moment, everyone was calm. Food was ordered, drinks as well, and the conversations were light, as if the six of us had known each other for more than an hour.

Gwen and Cooper exchanged stories, with Jai adding her two cents when it became necessary to do so, but it was weird to hear about things they had done, places they had traveled. It was also amazing, especially when Gwen finally told us the details of the first time they had been in Beacon Hills. There was so much there that we missed being away, but Theo remembered her from the hospital, and that had a whole different conversation going between them.

When the food arrived, they had to add another table to the mess, there were so many plates, and I forgot that I was eating with three hunters and two werewolves for a moment. Theo finally relaxed, leaning more into Jai than necessary, but he was smiling and his eyes were bright. I could almost feel the way Liam’s muscles let go and the tension melted from him beside me, and that was good, that was what we came out here for. 

But I couldn’t stop thinking about the road.

Theo was quiet, not that it was unusual for him, especially when he wasn’t pulling a one on one session, in those he tended to take over, but right now, the silence was eerie and a little unnerving. His eyes were on Gwen most of the time, as if he were watching her, waiting for something, but his body language was screaming for protection, which had him positioned with his body turned away from Cooper and more towards Jai. 

It was Liam that got me though. His elbows were on the table, sitting forward in the chair as if to move as close as he could without crawling across the table to sit on Theo’s lap, or put his body in front of the chimera. I knew what it had to be, Theo was just giving off a feeling, or a scent.

“Chemo signals.” I whispered, which had not only the two of them, but Gwen staring in my direction. I hadn’t realized that I said it aloud until Liam tapped my thigh, getting me to really look up at them. My eyes were firmly settled on the blue in Theo’s. “That’s what you were sensing last night on the road when you told us we had to go, they were chemo signals from something.”

Theo didn’t answer right away, instead his eyes went to Gwen, as if he were uncertain of what to do next, but the small nod of Gwen’s head and an audible pat on his leg from Jai had him easing back just a bit to face me more.

“There was something on the road, something out in the darkness with us.”

“Yeah, a creepy ghost lady and Christine.”

“Christine was a 1958 Plymouth Fury,” Jai spoke up, even as she took a bit of her soft taco. 

“Semantics.” I waved off but I knew Jai was actually happy someone had caught her obscure movie references. 

“Wait, there was something else out there?” Cooper leaned forward, her eyes on the rest of the pack… I mean people at the table, before they turned to me. “You didn’t say anything about it.”

“That’s because Mason didn’t know anything.” Theo defended, nearly growled at her as he shifted in his chair. “I did.”

“And you’re just sharing now?” I could hear the rise in her voice, the scolding tone, not something that Theo took lightly and I saw the moment he started to puff up, his hackles rising, and I reached over the table to grab his wrist. It instantly got me a pair of glowing gold eyes.

“Hey, no one’s accusing you of anything,” I was as gentle as I could be in order to diffuse him, and he took a deep breath before putting away the fireworks. It was my turn to address her. “Listen, we didn’t know what was going on, he just got a warning and we hauled ass out of there. It’s the reason he called these two.”

“And a damn good reason for us showing up,” Jai added, which got us all to turn in her direction, she still had her eyes on the food before her, but I knew that she was fully aware of the situation. Theo began to play with the food left on his plate, slowly letting the tension leave his body. “He doesn’t call for petty stuff, so when he does…”

Gwen raised just her fingers and like I said, Jai was fully aware of her surroundings because while it wasn’t a blatant interruption, she seemed to get that Gwen would be better suited for this. It was amazing to see. So, Gwen continued. “What he sensed out there could be dangerous, there’s no other way to put it. What we found today leads me to believe that no matter what it is, it’s not something we can leave out there on it’s own.” 

“You don’t even know what it is, but you want to put it down?” Cooper laughed. “I thought you were the researcher of the pair? Are you going to be just as bloodthirsty as I’ve heard she can be?”

“You know,” Jai sighed, placing the taco on her plate. “If there’s one thing I can’t stand…”

“Quiet,” Gwen’s command was just a whisper and with everything I had heard about them, this one thing was certain, they were definitely a complementing pair. What control Jai lacked, Gwen had in spades, and what instincts Jai used to hunt, Gwen added to them with knowledge, this is how they survived. She turned her dark eyes to Cooper, seconds away from letting the wild hunter loose. “I don’t think this thing, whatever it might be, has the ability to distinguish between what’s harmful and what’s not. I believe, and this is just a running theory, that the boys being out there last night set off a predatory need to protect itself, which is why it came so close.”

“Then it’s not really a threat unless there are werewolves in the area, it’s not a reason to kill it. It’s protecting its home.” It was a valid argument but I knew Gwen, I knew she had thought this over  _ a lot _ .

“Cooper,” she sighed, crossing her arms on the table as she pushed the plate away, right into Jai, who helped herself to the food. “You misunderstand my thought process. It’s not just Theo…. Or Liam. It's volatile in a way that could be harmful to those who may, without knowing it, step into its territory. This could be lethal for those of us without supernatural healing, or the ability to use a weapon with the skills needed to protect themselves.”

“What do you think it is?” Liam’s question accompanied him sitting back in the chair, relaxing enough when he saw that Theo had lowered his walls, and resumed the way he had been taking comfort in Jai’s closeness.

“It’s big, whatever it is,” Theo crossed his arms on the table and leaned into them. “The scent was a warning not to move any closer, but I didn’t realize just how close it had come to us. The prints weren’t far enough away to keep the two of you protected.”

“Wait, there were prints?” Liam was wide-eyed now. 

“Large ones. A foot and a half long, to almost a foot wide.” Gwen shrugged and Jai choked on her food, grabbing for her beer as she coughed quietly. 

She managed to sputter out a “Holy cow.”

“Technically, it's more like an Asterion.” 

“A minotaur?” Cooper laughed, but Gwen just nodded. 

“All of the lore points to something of that nature.”

“What lore? The only thing I found was the hauntings.”

“Well, we have access to not only the Men of Letters bunker archives thanks to the Winchesters, but also to my father’s database back in New England. This thing has a history, even a short one but everything matches up now to what happened back then.” She would never cease to amaze me, but I was torn between the two women. Cooper hmmphed and sat back.

“So, wanna share with the class?”

“In the 60s and 70s, this Bigfoot-like creature,” Gwen started and Jai rolled her eyes at this, “was also said to have cow-like features, which would give us our Asterion. While the print,” which she pulled up on her phone and was passed around, she continued, “is more sasquatch. The way Theo described it definitely confirms the other sightings, which apparently is a large number, but also includes the possibility of drugs being involved.”

“What you’re saying is that either Allen is real, or he’s just a figment of someone’s altered perception of a free-range cow who got loose from their pen?” Jai added, now sliding Theo’s plate closer as she stacked hers on top of Gwen’s. Surprisingly, Theo didn’t protest.

“Allen?” Liam laughed.

“Everyone’s gotta have a name, kid,” was her only reply and she went back to what she was doing, which meant signaling the waitress for another long neck. “So, we have a runaway minotaur on our hands, how do we get rid of it?”

“According to the books,” Gwen focused right on her for this one, “cutting off the head, or burning it.”

“ _ These are a few of my favorite things.. _ .” Jai sang, accepted the beer and raised it to her lips. “When are we doing this?”

“We should scout first.” Cooper spoke up.

“We did that,” Liam smiled, “all I found was Theo’s phone.”

“I love you, Baby Wolf,” Jai cooed and that got a scowl from Liam, and a wide grin from Theo.

But, all joking aside, I thought she was on the right track. “We should really do it again.” All eyes set on me. “We don’t know where this thing came from, and how it got so close to Theo.” 

“Actually,” Theo whispered, “I think I do.” Jai nodded, impressed, but didn’t say a word as Theo held his hand out for Gwen’s phone, which Liam passed to him quietly. Those stares went from me to him and I know he hated it. He started hating the limelight years ago, once he realized that he could honestly care about another person and it wouldn’t break him, but that was a point that took a lot to get to, and it still made him uneasy. “It’s not a big mystery,” he put the phone down in the middle of us and enlarged the picture. “It walked on its toes.”

“Son of a bitch,” Jai whispered, turning her head just a bit to see the picture clearer. “He’s right, the indentation of its toes shows that the weight was mostly placed there, and the heel is barely represented in the photo at all. If it wasn’t for the ruler, you wouldn’t be able to make it out.”

There was a moment of quiet and Jai looked at each and every one of us, landing lastly on Gwen, to whom she rolled her eyes and went back to her -- well, Theo’s -- food. 

“You all can bite me.” But even just playing it got a strange rumble from the man beside her, and she smirked. “So, what next, head to the hotel and gear up?”

“I’d say so,” Gwen agreed.

“What do you bring to a fight against an Asterion?” Liam glanced from one hunter to the other, and while they were definitely different people, the smile was exactly the same.

“A really, really big knife.” Cooper grinned, and it was scary to see Jai mirror it, but it was outright terrifying for Gwen to look so smug.

Jai raised her hand, waived at the waitress and gave her a smile. “Check please.”

~~~~~

Jai was off with Theo and Liam as soon as we were out of the car. Apparently, the girls had managed to make a shopping list on the drive over and Jai had volunteered to take on the task. It was fine, we needed some items more than others, but the one I did get a bit of a kick out of when I looked it over was the “Five dollar machete for Mason.” Not sure if I was supposed to be offended by that or not, but batteries, flashlights, lighter fluid, and extra salt were the necessities.

It wasn’t long before we found ourselves in Gwen and Jai’s room, with Gwen buried deep in finding more lore, but that gave Cooper and I a small chance to catch up, even if it was just for idle chit chat.

She asked about Derek, which got a quick glance from Gwen, one that she didn’t see. She wanted to know where Peter was, how Scott was faring and if anyone had heard from Lydia at MIT. It was the only time that Gwen even volunteered information on our hometown, and that was only to say that Lydia had come to the manor a few times over the course of the months following their trip up, and that she was an asset on finding a monster that haunted the college campus, but other than that, she stuck to her work. 

Stiles came up in the conversation, and it was obvious that she wanted to ask how things were going as far as the nemeton. It was something about her Scotish ancestry that drew her to the tree and to the town, but I tried to stay away from the topic. There was never much good that came from that damn tree, and I’m sure Gwen would agree.

We talked about work at Davis, and how her excursions weren’t necessarily creating an issue, but there were a few times where she almost tipped off some of the staff with the lore she had looked up on the library computer, and not just looked it up but accessed it with her numbers. She laughed it off, which I knew she would, and gave me a smile.

There were some questions about Isaac and Jackson, none of which I could answer because they weren’t in contact with me and I didn’t pry into Scott’s pack relations except when it had to do with Liam, Theo, and I, but there was one thing I couldn’t ignore.

“Brett?” I repeated his name back to her. The Devenford Prep student, also known as the only born wolf in our “generation” of the pack, had been MIA for some time. They had managed to hide him and Lori after their  _ deaths _ against the hunters, but she believed there was more to it. “He hasn’t been in contact in months.”

“Still out in the world then?”

I blinked at her, but nodded. “New England from what I understand. Argent never really said where he was taking the two of them but I’m going to assume it’s up near some of the contacts he has.” Okay, so did I really believe he was in New England without Gwen and Jai knowing since they became part of our world, absolutely not, but I also had no clue as to where they really were taken. “Why?”

“Gotta keep up with the pack members, right?” She smiled, and that was one that I knew. She really was trying to keep in touch but we barely talked about Brett and Lori at all. “I’ll fill you in more at work on Monday.”

“Yeah,” she turned away from me, “okay.”

The door burst open and Liam stood there smiling, Theo and Jai weren’t anywhere in sight and this had me wondering just what was going on.

~~~~~

The trip back to Proctor Valley Road was quiet, even with Liam in the car with the two of us, but as we pulled up onto the dirt part of the road, I watched him start to shake. The anger was building, he wasn’t going to be afraid, at least that was what he kept whispering, but it didn’t stop him from almost jumping out of his skin when the door was yanked open and Jai stood beside me, her arms on the roof of the car as she looked in, a wicked smile on her face. 

Her eyes were right on Liam. 

“Come on, Baby Wolf, let’s go hunting.” 

She backed away, twirling her hell blade in her hand and I glanced back at Liam’s wide blue eyes before he ducked out between the seats. 

“Okay,” Cooper grinned, “why not.”

And with that, she was out of the car.

This was going to be a very long night.


	5. Cooper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shifu, I hope I was able to capture Cooper's voice. <3

**Cooper**

Following behind the others gave me the opportunity to observe, and that was just what I decided to do. With Mason beside me, the rest of them faded away... to a point. Of all the hunters I had ever met in this game, Lancing and Bancroft were just a bit… off... for my taste, though I knew as much as anyone else about what they had been through in the recent past -- by word of mouth mostly -- it didn’t prepare me for actually watching the way they worked.

Gwen and Theo moved down the path, apparently attempting to pinpoint where the prints were in the slowly setting sunlight, not an issue for the wolves in the group, or Jai for that matter it seemed since she dragged Liam along with no problem through the brush. Gwen was very different then her partner, coming off as practical, more precise when it had to do with research. 

Mason was beside me as we moved towards the left of the road, his eyes going over everything, hand twirling that five dollar toy they managed to get him at the store, which was no bigger than his arm lengthwise but would certainly do damage, should he swing at whatever was out there. I grabbed his wrist, stopping the motion as he looked up at me in shock.

“You’ll slice your leg if you keep doing that,” I warned and with a look of sudden realization, he nodded, and slipped it back in the sheath. “I know we talked about this but…” I glanced over at Jai and Liam, the two of them squatted down beside something in the grass before Jai brought the phone up to take a selfie. “Explain them.”

“Explain that?” He laughed. “You think I can explain Jai in any form?” He nearly bent over giggling but slowly straightened, wiping the humor from his face. “Ah, no.”

“What do you mean ‘no’?” 

“I mean literally no. No one can explain her except maybe Gwen.”

“Okay, what’s she to Liam?”

“Annoying big sister, kinda like Scott.”

“No, that alpha’s more of a father figure. I’ve seen them together.”

“Well, they regard Jai as a human alpha, so maybe that’s where it comes from, but that’s probably about it. He’s a beta,  _ her _ beta I guess, but then again, that sounds more like a description for Theo.” Mason started on a rant, something really out there and complicated. “Let’s just go with Jai adopted them both and now just loves to tease him. It’s their thing.”

“And the pictures?” 

“Instagram war.” Mason shrugged like it was the most natural thing in the world that they keep taking pictures in the middle of a case. “And hey, if it keeps his anger from exploding, then I’m all for it.”

“You mentioned his anger issue before we both left, but you didn’t clarify. Should I be worried about Beacon Hills?” It was a legitimate question. My time spent in the town, and with the Nemeton, had given me a bit of insight to how it all worked, and my thought had always been that the demeanor of the wolves around it was definitely controlled by the Druid roots that ran deep in that town.

“No, between Theo and Scott, it’s pretty controlled, but there are just some times that Liam can’t help it. The only thing it really results in is a hole in the wall and some torn up old furniture.”

“What about Theo being his anchor? Doesn’t that usually calm the savage beast.”

“Well, Theo’s been having some issues of his own.”

“How so?”

Mason stopped, glanced between the chimera, and the hunter that stood with Liam, the latter two locked in a conversation over a root she was holding… what looked more like a lesson than an actual back and forth before he turned back to me. 

“He’s been meeting Jai a lot, some weird thing they have, usually when his past is getting the best of him, but when he comes back,” Mason paused, eyes turned to Theo and Gwen as they kept moving towards the other two at a leisurely pace. “When he comes back, he’s calmer, and he can help Liam get through it better.”

“Okay, so it’s a good thing. That’s always a plus. Did you figure out what Theo’s problem was?”

“Yeah, right. He’s Theo, not really one for open communication.”

“Might help though, especially if his anchor is also having trouble.”

“Oh, they talk, but they just don’t talk to the rest of us. Whatever happens between Theo and Liam usually stays between Theo and Liam.”

“And you and Bancroft?” 

This got the man to stare at me wide-eyed, like I had just fallen into a secret. “Me and?”

“Yes, you and  _ Gwen _ .”

“There isn’t a… You know I’m with Corey, right?”

“Much like you just said Lancing was an annoying older sibling, you seem to have this strange little fascination with the other one. So, what is it? Girl crush?”

“Hardly,” Mason rolled his eyes. “Maybe more like envy? Researcher’s envy, yeah that’s what we’ll go with. She’s been everywhere, like all over the country, sometimes out of the states, but the amount of stuff she’s done and she’s only,” the pause was fueled by confusion as his eyes locked on the woman Theo was now leading, and listening to, before he shrugged. “You know, I have no idea how old either of them are.”

“Infinite,” Lancing’s voice laughed as she cut in, and we both turned, not having realized how close the pair had gotten before Liam huffed, took her hand, and tugged her away again.

“Apparently, they’re infinite,” Mason shrugged, took out his phone and finally took a picture of the setting sun. “Should we actually be looking for clues?”

“We are,” I grinned widely, “or more to the point, they are. We’re waiting for just the right time.”

“You can be very cryptic when you want to be.” 

“I know.” 

A comfortable silence fell between the two of us as we followed along the path the other pairs paved for us, but oddly enough, I soon found myself walking beside Lancing as we made our way further down the road. She was twirling a strange blade in her hand, whistling softly to herself as we walked. 

“So,” Lancing’s voice was filled with a sarcastic smirk, even if she never bothered to look in my direction. “You hunt from the comfort of UC Davis?” And then she looked at me. “How’s that work?” 

“Carefully.” She seemed to take that as an answer, nodding as she mulled it over. “You don’t have a base, do you?”

“Eh, I prefer the road. G, there… she has a nifty little compound where we keep our stuff, a place of action, and all her crap. It’s pretty neat.” The blade stopped twirling and I watched as she slowly scanned the land in front of us, then to the side before moving on. “How long?”

“Since I was thirteen,” I gave her a quick answer, knowing just what she was asking because it seemed to be a hunter's thing. 

“Right, and I assume the interest in vamps comes from it?” None of her questions were offensive, they were just questions to us after so long.

“Yeah, one turned my mom. I started up hunting with my dad and another hunter to find her and… it. Took out my first nest with the two of them.” I pulled the saber from its resting spot. “That’s where this baby came from.”

“Pretty,” she whistled. “Don’t let Gwen see it, she’ll get into a discussion that would take all night.”

“Prefers the blade?”

“Anything sharp and shiny really. She’s pretty good at archery too.”

“You?” I glanced down at that hand. “Neat blade.”

She held it up, showing me the curved feather design on it and the way the sun hit the dark metal. “Yeah, she’s one of a kind.” The admiration for it melted quickly before she cleared her throat and shrugged. “But, this one’s pretty special, reserved if you would. Give me a gun any day.”

“Not a CQC person?”

“Pfft, not with these short arms.” 

“You know the Winchesters, right?”

“Intimately,” she grinned and while it was filled with a fondness, that too faded as fast as it came up. “You?”

“Nah, only know of them, from Christian.”

“Campbell? You know C.C.?” She was full of genuine surprise at that, but I gestured to the saber once again. “Dude, he was the one that helped you with the case? That’s great? One more thing for me to tease him about next time I see him. Vampires? Man, he  _ hates _ those bloodsuckers.”

“For good reason.”

“Hates demons more, but that’s another story all together.”

“We’ll have to trade Campbell war stories sometime.”

“Yeah, sure, can’t be any worse than the bullshit of a hunter’s funeral.” She gave a little giggle at that but her smile fell quickly. “You really drive nine hours because of Mason’s freak out?”

“Kid’s like a protégé.”

“From what I heard, he was supposed to be the emissary when Stiles backed down.”

“Exactly.” Lancing stopped, eyes burrowing in on me as I slowed and finally looked at her. “I know it’s going to sound strange to you, but Mason is my top priority when it comes to any of that pack. He’s special and needed.”

“That tree is nothing but trouble, trust me.”

“Oh, I know that. Which is why it’s imperative that Mason stay safe. He doesn’t know it yet, but he’s… unique.”

“Well the  _ Beast of Gévaudan _ will do that to you.” She stepped away, walking on past me before I decided to catch up. No sense leaving her pissed off. “You realize how much shit those kids have been through.”

“They’re not kids anymore, they’re grown men. Theo included.”

She cracked her neck before replying through her teeth, “leave Theo out of this.”

“Oh, so it does go deeper than just an annoying sibling or a human alpha. What’s your deal with him?”

“My deal,” she stopped to step up to me and I knew better than to test her strength against the fact that she was shorter than I was, “is that you leave him out of it.”

“Problem?” Bancroft’s voice broke the tension, and Lancing blinked at the sound, took a step back, and seemed to relax.

“Nope, just discussing boundaries.” Her voice was soft, like all of the anger had faded out, and it was interesting to witness. She turned and started walking, glancing back at me as if to ask if I was coming, before I shook off the strange shift in her. “Mason said you lived in Scotland, why would you come to California of all places?”

“Mason said that?” I didn’t know if I should be offended that the kid was giving out secrets or not.

“Actually, he was talking to Gwen, but you know, partners pick up these things.” 

I decided to ignore that little jab, and it was a jab. “Yep, moved there when I was twenty-one, needed to get out of the city. Like you, I’m from that side of the country. Stayed there for ten years.”

“Ten years and no awesome accent. I think you got jipped.” 

“It was mostly for Druid studies. Came up on them from an initial trek to Beacon Hills when I was fifteen, I think. It just kinda stuck.”

“So, are you supposed to be an emissary?”

“Maybe an advisor, not a full blown emissary.”

“No, you said that was Mason.” She was putting it all together, I could see it in her expression, the way her eyes narrowed but she also seemed to be relaxing more, even if she hadn’t tucked that blade away. 

“What’s with that thing?”

“This?” She held it up. “Think of it as a security blanket.”

“Looks like a toothpick.”

“A very, very special toothpick.” She winked at me as if we were old friends.

That was the moment she was dragged away. Theo stepped up, glanced at me, but didn’t say a thing as his hand wrapped around her upper arm, and while she didn’t look like one to enjoy being manhandled, she didn’t protest when Theo tugged her in the opposite direction. 

I moved alone for a few, enjoying being in the back of the crowd, observing the group going through the motions, but it didn’t last as long as I thought when Mason and Liam spotted something not far out, and Theo and Jai disappeared into the growing darkness.

I was left with Gwen, who slowed her strides, and fell in step behind me.

“You’ll have to excuse her, she can get a bit prickly when it comes to those she thinks of as  _ hers _ .”

“I hardly noticed.” I gave her a shrug, kept my tone low and stoic, but she got it. “You two always work like this? Separating the pack? Finding the strongest links?”

“There’s no  _ weak _ links in the McCall pack, or Hale pack, not sure which one we’re going with this week. All of them have their strengths. Theo’s sense of smell, being a chimera, is heightened and while Liam may not be the fastest, he’s definitely the strongest. Mason’s intelligence is a plus to any team, and the way they work makes them nearly invincible when they get it together.” She kept a lazy eye on the two pairs and her body language seemed to ring out the fact that she was relaxed but could swing at any moment. “You’re the odd man out. The uncertain element, if you will.”

I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to be offended or not. “Okay.”

“It’s not a bad thing, it’s just an observation.”

“Well, we’ve all been doing this long enough to know how to react to things, and how to use other’s strengths to our advantage to get it done.” I stalled, glaring up at her. “So, what’s the point of all this?”

“Oh, no point.” She shrugged. “Fleshing out a new hunter is a thing we do, assessing our assets, our flaws.” 

“MMhmm,” I grinned, pulled the flask from my pocket and took a swig of the whiskey inside, before holding it up to her. 

“As much as I would love to, I’ll pass until after.”

“Just a little something to keep warm.”

“Oh, I have no doubt, but with that one,” her eyes shifted to Jai, “on your toes is an understatement.”

“Yeah, I can tell.” Watching the way Lancing and Theo interacted, how close they were, how secretive, it surprised me that Bancroft would be so calm. “So, werewolves, new to it or taking it in stride?”

“Oh, we met the Beacon Hill boys months ago, so there’s no surprise here anymore. Though I admit the first interaction with Scott, Derek, and Peter was a little… off-putting.”

“Well, Peter does that…” I blinked once, a realization hitting me about the same time a bus would seconds after stumbling into the street. “Wait… Peter and…” I pointed at Lancing, getting only a shrug from the hunter beside me. “Seriously?”

“It’s a little odd, I admit.” 

“A little?” I scoffed, because, yeah a little didn’t cover it. “You realize that she completely changed him around.”

“I doubt that.” 

And we were moving again. 

“Oh, no, Peter was a complete asshole for the longest time.” I laughed not holding back my opinion. “After that Leannán Sí fiasco, he’s just… mellowed?”

“If there’s one effect that she has on people, it’s usually  _ not _ mellowing them out.” To see Bancroft actually crack a smile was pretty fantastic, considering what I thought I knew about the woman. 

“Well, sometimes caffeine has the opposite effect on people too. Take ASD peeps for instance, it might help them sleep while someone like her might bounce off the walls.”

“She’s a bit ADHD, don’t let her fool you.” The way she spoke highly of the hunter spoke volumes about their relationship. Unfortunately, it was something that could be exploited in the wrong hands, and that made me worry for the boys. 

“Back to Peter.” I smirked, and watched her roll her eyes. “Or Derek, seems like you would be a Derek girl.”

“Meeting werewolves outside our normal parameters of our usual hunts was a bit unsettling at first but the structure and pack dynamics of those ones, while a bit unusual, wasn’t hard to get used to.”

“I’m curious on how Scott handled having a human alpha in the midsts along with her beta.” She narrowed her eyes at me. “I’m sorry, am I wrong in assuming that you would be her beta?”

“If we were going on pack dynamics outside the McCalls, I would classify as an omega, but yes, to them I am the beta.”

“And that doesn’t bother you?”

“Should it?”

“Well, obviously the two of you are equal in the sense of hunting.”

“Ah, I see,” she smirked. “You haven’t seen then, there’s equal in aspects of our lives, and then there’s equal in our pack aspects.”

“I’ve seen enough to know she’s not the only qualified alpha in your  _ pack _ .”

“But she’s the only one who wants it, there’s a difference.”

“Maybe, but don’t sell yourself short.” I focused on the world around me, on how the lights from the others had flared up, even if the two wolves could see in the dark. “So... so far no demon car, no woman in white, what are we looking for?”

“We’re not looking for anything, we’re waiting.” Bancroft stilled suddenly, her eyes going out to the left, and her sudden stop was followed by the silence of the other four going still. 

“What the hell are we waiting for?”

“Theo.”

And she walked away. 

Mason stepped up beside me, his eyes on the retreating hunter, but there was awe in his gaze.    
“Intense.”

“You’re not in high school anymore, you don’t need to use that word.” I smirked, letting him bask in whatever crush he had for a minute before my gaze rested on Theo, the way he straightened, rising to his feet, tensing, and his eyes began to glow. “Theo?”

“Spread out!” was all he seemed to have time for before whatever the hell it was rushed him and all hell broke loose.


	6. Theo

**Theo**

I could hear the heartbeats around me. Jai to my left, giggling with Liam as the two tried to take a photo of whatever the hell had caught their interest now. It had been a while since I heard Liam so free, and leave it to Jai to bring it out in him, or Gwen when he happened to stumble into her path. They had a knack for doing that, and my eyes found Jai and Liam easily in the dark. 

Mason and Cooper were to my right, heartbeats steady despite being the human and the hunter, despite being  _ Mason _ . His pulse was usually off the charts anyway, but now, oddly enough, it was rapidly beating at a pace that would make me think he was calm.

Gwen’s was behind me, the low mumble of her voice added to the ability to detect her position. She was close, a few steps closer than Jai. My eyes went from Gwen back to the hunter beside me, the one who was watching out into the night as if she could see through it, into it, and pick out the things that were darker than the shadows.

Jai had told me about her time  _ there _ , about the way she had to survive, how we were so much more alike than I thought, and how it changed her. The day I discovered her secret was the moment she uncovered mine.

I spent years hiding myself from Liam, or more of myself than I thought. He was my anchor, he felt everything I did, and I did my best to protect him from it, but over the last year, my anger at my past was leaking through and the man he had become was suffering for it.

It was on one of their early excursions through Beacon Hills, one that had Jai alone and Gwen sitting in the loft online helping out other hunters, that she found me. Though I’m not still not sure how she ended up down in one of the Dread Doctors’ labs, this one hidden in the Preserve, a place the others believed was destroyed. 

I was sitting in the middle of the floor, completely out of it, trying to hold in the anger, when she stepped into view, coming down those steps. I was crouching on the floor, ready to spring, my eyes focused on nothing but the heat signature of her body. This was me, this was what I was hiding, the monster I was slowly becoming, but she stopped.

She stood there at the bottom of the stairs, heart rate beating at a normal pace, no shift in her emotions, no spikes in her scent, just looking at me. And she smiled. It was disarming, completely unexpected and even when I rushed her, trying to get that reaction I desperately needed, she just let me push her back against the wall.

I didn’t need physical contact, not from anyone, save Liam, but the moment I touched her -- my arm braced across her throat, her light eyes focused on me -- that was the moment I knew she was different.

“What are you?” I managed to say it mostly human, enough for her to understand and her hand barely touched my face before all the anger, the need to destroy fell from me, and I was suddenly kneeling on the floor. 

She moved down, crouched in front of me, hand fisted tightly in my hair, holding my head back so I could look at her, and I knew I wasn’t threatening her with a display of power, I was just staring.

“I’m just like you.” 

And she was.

She had lost her mother at the same time I had killed my sister. She had taken the “life” of her first monster at the same time I had taken the first of the Dread Doctors’ failed experiments. She had lost as much as I had, and gained an infinity back. Where I had found Liam, she had found Gwen. When I had lost hope in humanity, she had lost Dustin, her first partner. Where she had annoying, overbearing, chosen siblings like Dean, I had Scott and Stiles. 

The parallels were strange and comforting, and where I had spent a lifetime under the thumbs of the Doctors, learning a wicked trade that kept me from human interaction, from knowing just how to actually react to people… she had been in Hell, serving a demon, saving the world… saving Dean.

We met often after that, every meeting intense, and just this side of skirting the edge of control. She needed what I did, contact with someone just as broken, and while it seemed to help me, it brought out the darker side of her. I could heal, she could use that knife, but she didn’t hurt me, she just held it to my skin... she always touched my skin.

I never felt the need for anything sexual, a kiss here, a caress there… maybe, when the weird need arose... but I didn’t need it, and while Jai had multiple partners already, I think she needed to just be held. She told me that it was hard to touch sometimes, to make contact with Gwen, Sam, even Dee -- and yes, I knew all about her -- but that was because she was so afraid to hurt them, that this  _ thing  _ inside her could tear them apart. 

She couldn’t do that with me, she couldn’t hurt me the way she could with them. I wasn’t human, I wasn’t vulnerable, and we had an agreement. An intense, mutual agreement that left both of us exhausted, and satisfied, and Sam knew. 

Sam Winchester. What an odd hunter. He was fine with our arrangement, understood Jai so completely that he just shrugged it off and gave me a warning as far as anyone would.  _ If I hurt her _ \-- insert eye roll here -- but she just sat in the corner smiling as the two of us faced off. He was an interesting character indeed. I didn’t fear him, not the way that Liam thought when he brought it up last night, I feared for Liam, but not from Sam. 

From Dean. 

There was a lot that he didn’t understand and any connection to the girls seemed to come in question. There was a lot Dean tolerated, like Derek and Peter -- though I think that one was more because Cas had vouched for him -- and it was Jai’s life not Gwen’s but Derek seemed to fit right in with Gwen, Cas, and Dean, a puzzle piece that slid right into place. It was crazy to see, and I did see it, though my secrecy of being at their “bunker” was short-lived when Derek sought me out that night, finding me in one of the sublevel rooms, Jai still sitting in the corner.

Derek didn’t understand, which Jai was fine with, as long as Peter did, because Derek belonged to Gwen. It was a weird dynamic, even for a pack. There was more than one  _ alpha _ in theirs, and not even an alpha mate, but it was hard to determine if it was Dean or Cas that gave off the feeling, but Derek had just nodded in Jai’s direction and walked away, greeting Sam in the hall as he went.

I wasn’t a secret, at least not to Derek, but apparently, I was still one to Gwen. 

That brought me back to Proctor Valley Road and the strange feeling in the air, the one that made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end, the one that shook me from the gaze I had set on the hunter and my wolf…  _ my _ wolf. Liam. I had to get rid of that thought too. 

And then the overpowering scent of the thing, dirty, damp, mildewy… it was all there, and underneath it was a predator. My head shot up, eyes going in the direction where it was the strongest and beside me, Cooper whispered.

“Theo,” her voice was drowned out by the rapidly approaching sound of a wild heartbeat. I rose to my feet, eyes narrowed but gold, using the night vision of my coyote side to see in the dark as far as I could. It still took me by surprise.

“Spread out!” was all I had time for before it rushed me. 

Like a linebacker tackling a golfer, I was brought down under the weight of the beast. It’s face was that of a bull, long with flaring nostrils, it looked down on me with dark eyes, and huffed as I bared my teeth at it, hands gripping the horns tightly before he could swing and gut me with it, but his arm wasn’t at all like a real bull. No, they were long, moved like a human and had very  _ large _ fists at the end of them, ones that were currently pounding into my ribs, stealing my breath. 

That was until Liam joined in. I could hear the roar over the rush of my heartbeat, the pain of the blows and suddenly the weight that had been on top of me was gone. I rolled to the side, eyes clear enough to see Liam taking on the minotaur. 

It was Jai that was next in the assault, the long swipe of a machete showed the skill she had in using them, slashing along its back, but it only seemed to stun it, before Gwen jumped in, her preferred weapon of choice was a sword, and where she had kept that I had no idea, but that was about the same time that Cooper swung the sabers she was so fond of carrying. 

The beast stepped back, eyeing the assault like he was debating on what to do next, making up some sort of strategy, but his eyes fell on Mason, the only human without so much as a hint of what to do, and he charged. 

I sprang to my feet, the pain of the broken ribs it had caused nearly gone, and found myself between Mason and the thing, his five dollar weapon in my hand. As soon as it was in range, I swiped up, splitting its gut with the sharp end of the blade. 

It roared, or mooed, I’m not sure what that sound was, but it hurt, gave me no choice but to cover my ears as it turned and charged the others. Jai was first, knocked on her ass, flying six feet away as it hit dead on, and my heart felt like it stopped. She didn’t move, didn’t shift, at least not for a moment before she opened her eyes and glared at me, with nothing but blackness in them. I knew her other half was taking over, trying to quickly heal the damage, but there was nothing she could do until she could move.

Gwen was next, still whipping that sword around like she was back in medieval days, and she would have made a hell of a knight. I rushed it, just as it caught her with the tip of the horn and sent sprawling back, barely a scratch on her, but the force of its head just turning had created a whip. She wasn’t defenseless and the sword came up, buried in its gut as it stepped away. Gwen lay stunned on the ground.

Cooper charged, sabers swinging and got almost the same treatment, landing on her side close to where Gwen was catching her breath, but it was Liam that faced off with it once again, claws out, teeth bared, anger at its all time highest. This thing didn’t stand a chance against the werewolf. 

Except that it did.

Liam, with his strength and rage wasn’t a match for the pure animalistic nature of the beast before him and when it charged, Liam was taken down almost as quickly as he had stood. This time, those horns hit home and pierced his side. The roar he let out was full of pain, a heartbreaking sound that boiled the blood inside me. 

I let out the monster inside, gold eyes and claws but as I ran towards him, I swept up the discarded sword from the ground, started low and came in with an upward swing. It didn’t see it coming, though it heard me clearly, looked me dead in the eyes at the swing hit home. Like a batter with just the right forward motion, I felt the edge of the sword against the drag of its skin, the quick yank as the blade hit home and sliced through its spine before slipping quickly through the rest of the flesh with little resistance. 

The head of the minotaur-like creature was sent flying, and the body dropped before me, first to its knees, and then flat. I closed my eyes at the feeling of the warm spray of blood on my face, the way it dripped down the sword and over my hands. I could actually feel my heart racing.

“Theo!” It was muffled, as if I were underwater, but it was Liam, I was certain, at least for the most part, and then I was absolutely sure when I heard it again, this time accompanying the hand on my arm. I feared opening my eyes, to let him see what was inside, but his thumbs wiping the blood away from my face brought me back to reality, and him. “Theo, please.”

I blinked in the scene around me as I caught the fearful look in those blue eyes, but I shook my head, dropped the sword, and took his wrists in my hands. “I’m okay. I’m okay.”

“Jesus, I thought I lost you.” He sighed, dragging me into a tight hold, one that I couldn’t help but return before my eyes went to the rest of the pack. 

“Not hardly,” was all I could get out.

Cooper was sitting up, with Mason’s arms wrapped around her shoulders, Gwen was on her feet, looking down at the body of the beast, contemplating what to do next if I guessed the look in her eyes, but it was Jai that my gaze set heavy on. 

She was lying there, blue eyes to the sky, hands on her stomach, not moving. I shifted out of Liam’s hold and made my way over as quickly as my shaking legs would let me, falling beside her, on my knees only to block out the sky, hands beside her head, so I could lean in close.

She scowled at me, furrowed her brow, and then reached up, putting her hands on my chest. “My puppy love,” she huffed in such a scolding tone that I pushed up on my arms to steady myself. “You’re beautiful, but I’m trying to see if I can catch a falling star.”

I sat back completely this time, unsure if I had heard her right. She had just been in a fight with a thing that had to weigh nearly five times more than her and she was star gazing? Maybe she hit her head. “What?”

“Do you think my phone would take a good quality picture of the stars? You can see everything from here.” I was completely lost, but the moment the smile rose on her lips, I knew she was fucking with me. “Oh, Theo, you should see the look on your face, it’s priceless.”

“You know what?” I sneered, leaning over her again, “I hate you.”

She moved her hand up, touching my cheek with her fingertips, the grin widening. “Don’t be like that.”

“No, it’s true,” I pulled away, getting her to sit up, “you drive me fucking nuts.”

“Well, yeah, that’s my job.” She yelled after me as I stood and huffed my way to Liam. 

“Bite me, Lancing!” I snipped back, Liam laughed as I approached. I didn’t want to look at her, but the fear in his eyes was as much a question as it was amusement. “She’s fine.” I waved it off, and smiled as the fight ran out of him at those words, but it also had me catching the scent of blood. “What about you?”

Liam lifted his shirt, and while there was blood, there wasn’t a mark on him. I reached out, patted him on the shoulder and caught sight of Jai moving at a cautionary pace to the head of the creature, where Gwen now crouched.

Two words came from the conversation between them that had me curious as to whether or not my new friends were completely mental, or had just been exposed to it too much. 

It was Jai patting Gwen on the shoulder that got the question out in the open. “So, bonfire?”

I didn’t move towards them, not yet anyway, as I heard Gwen sigh out through her nose, a long breath that told me she was thinking of what to do next, before she shrugged. “Yeah, why not?”

“YES!” was the hiss that Jai let out, pumping her fist like her mom just told her she could have the rest of the ice cream, and she took off into the night.

“LANCING!” The yell didn’t hurt my ears but it certainly caught my attention. Jai stopped dead in her tracks, whipping around in the middle of her run, and shrugged in an all out  _ what _ type gesture. “Take Raeken with you.”

“Oh,” I heard her whisper, “right.”

Liam’s grin was almost all-knowing, or would have been if he even knew what went on between us but he didn’t have a clue, nevertheless it was cute and a good effort. He rubbed his hand down my shoulder blade then patted me on the back of the neck. 

“Good luck.”

What. An. Asshole.

I trudged along to meet up with her, as Gwen rallied the troops behind him to get the body to a safer location, one free of any type of plants and finally caught up with the woman who was left in my charge… again.

She was dancing in a circle, her tone low and something that sounded like chanting was coming from her, but it was almost too low for me to hear. I stopped just to watch her, eyes closed, head tilted back to the sky, arms open wide. She looked like an old spirit, and I could almost see her in native dress.

“What are you doing?” I whispered, wishing I didn’t have to disturb her, but curiosity got the best of me. She stopped spinning, caught her breath and smiled at me.

“Back before Gwen and I really started hunting together,” she walked away, glanced over her shoulder and nodded for me to follow. Who was I to argue? I caught up to her as she grabbed a twig off the ground and twisted it as she continued to talk. “I stayed with a few tribal members up in Montana, it was an experience let me tell you. But I learned a few things, one of them was that dance. The song, however, was from Enigma. 1994, good year. “Return to Innocence,” and I was just singing the chanting part. You should listen to it.”

I rubbed my hand against my forehead, a smirk on my lips, and shook my head. “You are very strange.”

“Thank you.” She went quiet for a moment before I felt the tips of her fingers brush mine and I snagged them, wrapping her hand in mine. “You okay?”

I looked out ahead of us, contemplating what she had asked and laughed, actually laughed, which only made her heart rate rise. “Actually,” I started, took a breath and pulled her to a stop, not fighting the urge to make some sort of physical contact when I let my fingers rest along her neck, feeling her pulse, “I am.”

“Sure you are,” she scoffed, but I knew she believed me, before tugging away and heading, once again, towards the car, pulling me along. I knew what she was doing, why she broke the touch. Now wasn’t the time, here wasn’t the place, but at some point she was going to need it. “That was fun, huh?”

“Sure, cuz taking the head off a raging bull/minotaur thingy is the best way to spend the evening.” Once we stopped at the car, I saw her dig the keys from her pocket and pop the trunk. 

With the light flowing out from the hatch, I studied her face, the way she concentrated, all emotion wiped from her expression and she ever so gently -- for her anyway -- pushed me down to sit on the bumper. She wouldn’t look me in the eye when she doused the shop towel with water from a gallon that sat in the back and gently wiped the blood from my face.

“Jai,” I tried to get her attention, hoping that I could just figure out how to do this. We had hunted together, sure, but that was just small game, something to pass the time, but this… this was different. “Jai!” I grabbed her wrist, stopped her movements suddenly, and those murky eyes looked straight at me. “You’re okay.”

“No,” her voice was low, dangerous, and now I knew why Gwen had sent me along. She had wanted to go alone, to deal with this backlash by herself, but her partner knew her better than that and maybe even had a little insight into our relationship. “No, I’m not okay at all.”

“Was it the blood?” Okay, so I was morbid and a little curious on what happened when this side of her came out, so sue me.

“No.” She fought my hold, the other hand twitching to go to her blade.

“Was it the violence?” 

She clenched her jaw hard, barely opened her lips to answer, breathing out heavily through her nose. “Yes.”

“Do you want to hurt me?” 

She struggled with that one. “Yes.”

“You can,” I whispered, leaning in closer, pressing my forehead against hers but I wouldn’t let her eyes go. “I’ll let you.”

“No,” and with that one was a low growl deep in the back of her throat. “No, I can’t.”

“But you want to?”

“Yes,” her body began to shake, the hand I had held dropped the towel, and she twisted in my grip. “Theo, please stop.”

“No, you said this is what you needed.” This was what we did for each other, this was helping. “I want you to.”

The strength she took to rip out of my grasp came out of nowhere, and suddenly I was pressed down against the inside of the car, ass still on the bumper, and she was straddling my waist, that hell blade at my neck and I let my head drop, opened myself up for her if she needed it, and rested my hands on her thighs.

“You son of a bitch,” she snapped, leaning down over me, inches from my lips, and that blade disappeared. Her hands, now free, came up, one grasping my shirt, the other my hair, and I smiled, a smartass, full-on grin, but I closed my eyes, relaxed into her hold. “I could kill you right now.”

“But you won’t.” 

Her eyes were blue when I opened mine to stare into them, and she pushed away, driving the heel of her hand into my chest once, only getting a huff as I lost my breath for a moment, but I laughed.

“Fuck you, Raeken!” She slipped off me to stand just outside the circle of light the hatch created as I sat up, and waited.

“That kinda goes against the whole  _ not interested in sex _ thing I told you about.” 

Jai rounded, attempted to look pissed, but with me just shrugging it off, I saw the small smirk on her face, before she scowled. “That was stupid, opening yourself up like that.”

“Never said I was smart.” 

She reached down, grabbed the towel, and sat down beside me again. “Bullshit, you’re one of the smartest people I know.”

“And so are you,” I looked up at the stars and out towards where the others were. “Which is why I knew you wouldn’t hurt me.”

Her phone pinged an incoming message and she shook her head as she pulled it from her pocket. “Still a fucking stupid thing to do.” She glanced at the message, opened up the camera and turned it so that I was in the picture with her. “Flip it off.”

“What?” That had me laughing.

“Do it, flip off the camera.” 

Who was I to argue? So, I did what she asked and she laughed maniacally as she sent the photo off. “Who was that too?”

“Gwen,” she shrugged as she hopped off the bumper, turned and grabbed a large can of kerosene, and a box of matches. “Come on, smores are waiting.”

“You’re so gross,” and I followed quietly after closing the trunk, keys in my pocket.

Needless to say, the fire burned bright, and hot, and for a few hours, leaving nothing but a pile of ash and a few bones that we were able to cover up in a small, shallow grave, but it was oddly comfortable, especially when Cooper passed a flask around, hopefully knowing that it wouldn’t touch me and Liam and probably wouldn’t even phase the other hunters.

Jai did what she wanted, she laid back in the grass, fully aware of what creatures might be lurking there at night and snapped pictures of the stars. Liam joined her, creating an Instagram post marathon that included pictures of me, since there was no way I was missing out on seeing both of them relax… and maybe a few unexpected pictures of the other three, Cooper included.

~~~~~

The sad goodbyes in the parking lot were not my thing, even if Mason would see Cooper Monday at work. It was late and all I wanted was a shower. 

My night didn’t end there. With Mason asleep and Liam drooling on his pillow, the urge to move was a bit too much, that and I could hear the heartbeats and the conversation next door. The itching under my skin was too much, the come down from the hunt was finally getting to me and I got up, grabbed a tee-shirt and slipped from one door to stand at the other.

Gwen opened it when I knocked softly. Okay, not so much  _ opened _ it as nearly took it off its hinges with how fast she yanked on it. I stood there, looking as defeated and small as I could, hands tucked in the pockets of my shorts, hoping she would get the whole “I come in peace” thing but she merely stepped aside and let me in.

“She’s in the shower,” Gwen offered, not that I couldn’t hear the water running, and moved to the table in the back where her notes and laptop sat wide open. “That one’s hers, make yourself comfortable.”

“Really?” because that was a shock. Gwen sat down, rolled her eyes and looked over at me,  _ looking _ me over, before she made this indecisive face. Resting her arm on her knees, she sat forward.

“Do you know how long I’ve known her?”

That was the weirdest question because, “yes.”

“Then you should know that I know more about her,” she pointed at the room, “than only one or two other people in her life. Which means you,” and the tip of the pen in her hand aimed right at me. Why did I have a feeling that could turn deadly quick? “Are not a shock. I know what you are, I know your history, and I know what the two of you can do for each other. So,” she sat back, as if she were about to ignore me, “make yourself comfortable.”

I let out a long breath, thanking everything above me that she wasn’t going to kill me, and sat down on the bed. It took only moments for Jai to walk out of the room, towel drying her hair, eyes right on me, and she tossed it back into the room. 

To lay on the bed behind her, curled up against her back, as she and Gwen went over notes was strange to say the least, but I closed my eyes, let the adrenaline drift from my system as my ears filled with her heartbeat, and my nose with her scent and found myself drifting into a deep and dreamless sleep.


	7. Jai

**Jai**

Mason hugged Cooper, and when I say hugged, I mean so tight her eyes started to bulge, but that was all I saw for the most part as Theo walked away. I tracked his movements up the stairs and to his room without him so much as peeking over the railing at us. My distraction got a good backhand from Gwen to the arm and I turned to look at her.

The sting from her fingers was unexpected, nice but still completely not something I was ready for, and I placed my hand over the slight burn, glaring at her. 

“Ow!” I breathed out, watching the smile creep up on her face as she rolled her eyes and jutted her chin towards Cooper, who was now looking at me, smile on her face as well. I stuck my hand out. “You’re pretty cool.”

She snorted, took my offered hand and shook it. “You’re a little strange.”

“So I keep being told.”

“But, it looks as if the tales of the two of you definitely aren’t a farce.” That actually had Gwen snickering behind me. She had already done the whole goodbye pleasantries and was now just waiting on me. “It really was a good time. A lot less blood than a vampire nest.”

“Vamps really are your thing, huh?” I was curious about that one.

“We all start hunting for a reason.” I knew the question was coming as she tilted her head just a little, curiosity written all over her face. “So, Gwen’s a Cryptozoologist, what are you?”

“Talented,” I waggled my eyebrows, not as a come-on but just because I was a dick and couldn’t help myself. “You name it, I’ll hunt it.”

“So… Name your most bizarre case.” 

I glanced at Gwen, who gave such a small shake of her head that unless you were looking for it, you couldn’t have seen it, and I did my best to look like just the prospect of it was uninteresting.

“Sorry, I’ll have to pass. Trust me, there’s not enough bourbon, scotch, or beer in the state of California to go down the list of those.” Surprisingly, that got a smile from her and not the usual sour face it usually did from hunters. They had this weird thing about wanting to know about your conquests. “So headed back to Davis, huh?”

“Got some things to figure out, weapons to clean, and Mason, here,” she patted the man on the shoulder, giving it a small squeeze before she let go, “and I have work on Monday, so someone’s got to man the station before he gets back and rearranges the archive room looking for more information on our monster.”

“Well, safe travels.” I stepped back to avoid the awkward hug and she got it, giving me a nod. 

“Did you see where Theo went, I wanted to talk to him. Kind of a congratulations.” She was grinning, looking to Liam, who just set those blue eyes on me. 

With a deep breath, he gave her a shake of his head. “That’s probably not the best idea. He’s always a little wired after something like this, and kind of volatile.”

“Makes sense, he did swing a sword through a cow tonight.” Cooper grinned, but there was just something off about that statement. She moved away, headed to her car, but Gwen suddenly stepped forward.

“If you’re ever on the east coast.” Cooper stopped as Gwen held out a business card, which she took a little confused. “That’s my number. We have a safe haven for hunters out in Chestnut Hill, and it’s a good place to research before you find yourself in a situation. Also, call if you need to, the password’s on the back.”

“Password?” Cooper was definitely confused, and I tried to hide the smile.

“When you call, you’ll understand,” was the only advice I gave her, and she nodded, tucking the card inside her jacket pocket. 

“Well, thanks.” She gave a quick salute, reminding me of Dean for a moment, before she headed off to the car again. 

Gwen stepped up to the back of the Rogue and grabbed her bag, keeping the sword tucked safely in the hidden compartment of it. Not sure how she managed to keep it there, but hey, never ask for a hunter’s trade secrets. When the Charger backed out, and Cooper was on the road, Mason headed up to the room and Liam stepped up to me while I grabbed some of the bags from the back of the car.

We didn’t need much, and we didn’t use many things tonight, but an inventory was always good before we headed home. 

His stare, though, was just a little unnerving. “What’s up, Baby Wolf?”

“You know, at some point I’m going to be too old for you to call me that.” The way he huffed it out old me now wasn’t the age.

“Oh, yeah, maybe I’ll stop when you finally reach it,” I closed the hatch and smiled up at him. “Now’s not the time.”

“What’d you do to him?” 

That kinda came out of nowhere. I blinked a few times, but shook my head. “Be more specific, Liam.”

“Theo, when you went to the car, what did you do to him?”

“Not a thing.” I grabbed the bags and moved to the stairs, as he followed close, but he grabbed my wrist, stopping me just before the first step. I whirled on him, ready for a fight, but he just slipped his fingers through the handles and relieved me of the bag. “Hey, listen,” he looked at me shyly, “please know that I would never hurt him, okay? Never.”

“That’s the problem, I know him,” he sighed, “he likes it, and at some point he’ll get you to.”

“Have faith that I have a little more control than that.” I pressed my hand to his chest, patted it gently with my fingers and then headed up the stairs. “I’ll keep him safe.”

The only response I got from him was a nod, something that told me while he was sure about his answer, he wasn’t so sure I would keep my promise either. 

We headed up in silence, parted at our doors, and I stepped in only to be greeted by a very confused, and scowling Gwen. Dumping the bag by the door, I noticed the rearrangement of the room, how she had moved the table towards the back, leaving the path to my bed open.

“Expecting company?” I smirked, gesturing to the now open spot on the floor by the window.

“No, just figured I would bother you less back here.”

I shrugged off the flannel I had slipped into at the car and dropped it on the bed. “You never bother me.” But she turned in the chair, eyes going to her work. “What’s going on?”

She was quiet for a minute, then suddenly whipped around to look at me. “Explain Theo.”

“Well,” I sat down at the edge of the bed, “When three mad scientists get together with an eight-year-old boy and rip the heart out of his sister, you get what they call a chimera…”

“Stop!” Oh, she was serious. Well, that’s new.

“What do you want from me?”

“The truth, Jai.” 

I smiled, shaking my head, looking anywhere but her. “About Theo, yeah that might be a little hard to--”

“Try.”

I took a deep breath and shrugged, speaking with clenched teeth. “I can’t.”

“You, even on your wildest days, even in your craziest moments, have a reason for everything, so  _ try _ again.” 

I stood, drew the gun from my back, placing it on the dresser, pulled the hell blade from its sheath and lay it gently beside it and then placed both hands on the woods, closing my eyes tightly.

“He’s me.” I whispered, “he’s me if I didn’t have you.”

“A werewolf/coyote?” 

“Lost.” I sighed, finally looking at her, “lost among friends, in the middle of family, just outside a pack.”

“You were never lost.”

“I was,” I turned to her and shook my head. “I was lost just doing the only thing I was good at, hunting. I wasn’t good at being a daughter. I sucked at being a sister. Hell, I fucked up being a partner.” I made my way towards her bed, sitting on the edge closest to her and placed my elbows to my knees. “I lost my mom when I was eight, and he lost his sister.”

“It’s not the same.”

“It is,” I shook my head, lowered my eyes to that Gods-awful carpet and found something, anything, interesting to beat out with my fingers. “I cursed the angels, wanted to know why her and not me, why save  _ me _ ? I was nothing, not until I picked up a blade, and a lighter. The Dread Doctors, they picked him, they scared the hell out of him, and no one believed him. He was alone,  _ I _ was alone, and I would have done what he did, if only to feel accepted for one small moment.”

“You don’t think Dean accepted you?”

“I didn’t meet Dean until later, before that I was with Bobby, and Dad,” I sat up finally looking at her, trying to keep the emotions down. “After she died, he wouldn’t look at me, not the same way anyway. I thought he was thinking the same thing, why did I survive, why didn’t Mom? I would have given anything…  _ anything _ to be seen. But he gave me to Bobby, and I should have been happy about that, because I know Bobby loved me more than anything. But he was my  _ Dad. _ He was my Father, why didn’t I matter?”

The tears were falling now, and I tried to blink them away, rubbed my fingers across my face to clear them out. 

“I think,” I breathed, “I think I’m just drawn to his darkness, to what he feels inside. He’s survived so much, and the death he’s seen, it’s like me all over again. And you know when he started feeling whole, like really like he belonged?”

“I think I heard the story of his reappearance back to Beacon Hills, that didn’t go so well.” She wasn’t snarky about it, not at all irritated, she was Gwen. She was stating a fact, and that made me laugh.

“Yeah, but Liam…” and I took my focus somewhere else. “He told me that there was a night that Stiles and Liam followed him out to the bridge where his sister died, and there was just this connection when he confronted them. He told me that he knew then that as much as he had to pull off the Doctors’ plan, he would never hurt Liam, or Stiles.”

“And they sent him to hell.”

“The skinwalkers’ version of it anyway.” 

“We know all this, Jai, why are you rehashing?”

“Because Liam is his Gwen! Okay? Liam is his break, his connection to the world, the…” I closed my eyes tightly, and shook my head, trying to clear the thoughts before I opened them, staring at her. “Liam is his reason to stay.”

Her eyes were wide, oh, I think she got it now. “Jai.”

I raised my hand. “It’s okay. It’s been years, but honestly, it’s the truth. Anchors in the pack are not that far from humans finding that one thing, that one reason to hold on. Liam is his as much as you are mine, so yeah. He’s me.”

“And tonight, at the car?”

I smiled and then sighed. “He asked if I wanted to hurt him, you know, post-hunt shit, and he was going to let me, but I stopped. I was just shaken out of it by the thought of a blade against him. It was like me holding one to you. I couldn’t do it, couldn’t let her have him like that.” I shook even at the thought of it now. “It was terrifying.”

“That’s a good thing.”

I stood, grabbed the toiletry bag from the counter and glanced back at her. “It’s not. I mean, what if I hadn’t stopped? He can heal, yeah, but a hell blade to a werewolf. I don’t even want to know what it could do to him. The thought of it makes me sick.”

“Again, a good thing.”

I drew in a breath, shaky and hard to do, but I gave her a small nod. “I’m gonna take a shower.”

“And if there’s a knock at the door?”

I shrugged. “Let him in.” I stopped in the doorway, hand on the sill and glanced at her. “It’s up to you.”

And stepped in, closing the door behind me.

~~~~~

I groaned as I rolled over in bed, that damn sliver of light shining in through the blackout curtains, but when I hit the solid body beside me, I remembered everything from the night before. I blinked aware, trying to catch my thoughts, and turned to look at the head of light brown hair that rested on the pillow facing away from me.

The half-naked form of one Theo Raeken lay between me and Gwen and I shuffled up on my elbows to see her. She was tucked into the nest on her own queen bed, surrounded by pillows and stuffed animals but she was asleep. 

I flopped back on the bed and stared blankly at the ceiling.

“Do you always wake up so loud?” He grumbled, his usual deep voice even more so with sleep and slowly he rolled over to face me.

“I usually do most everything loud,” I smirked, which got me a roll of his eyes that I caught out of my peripheral. “And now I want coffee.”

“Go get fucking coffee and get out!” Gwen snapped from somewhere deep in the covers, and I saw the smile on Theo’s face. 

He sat up, slipped out from under the blankets and leaned over me, pressing his forehead to mine. “I’ll text when I’m done.” Which meant he was going to shower and change and I would finally have a coffee partner for the first time in a long time. 

And then he was gone, the quietest get away I had ever heard. Gwen flipped over in the bed, dragged the blankets down and stared at me. I raised my hands, surrendering as I slipped over to enjoy the warmth of the spot he had just left.

“He’s ace, isn’t he?”

“I think,” because all I could do was shrug. Theo was a most confusing man. “You know me, I’m still trying to figure all of that out myself.”

“Good,” she flopped back over and sighed, “I don’t need to hear any other noises from you. You and Sam are a bit much as it is.”

“You think I don’t hear you and your duo?” I snorted, flinging the covers off. It was definitely time for coffee. “Please, the walls are  _ not _ that soundproof, and I mean anywhere we stay.”

“You lie,” she at least had the decency to sound offended. 

“Did you know that Dean’s voice gets a few octaves higher when he’s about to…” I thought obscene gestures with my hand first thing in the morning were always best. “And Cas, he’s just a little more…” that one called for claws, “grrr.”

“Fuck you!” And it was the rare occasion that I saw her blush, this was one of them. 

I grabbed my phone and headed off to the bathroom to start getting ready, laughing most of the way.

I was lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling, listening in on the conversation that Gwen was having in the bathroom with Dean, their normal morning routine, and I quickly grabbed my phone. Dialing the last number to call in that wasn’t Sam’s, I waited two rings before the owner picked it up.

_ “What?” _ Who would have thought Liam’s voice would be that sexy in the morning… or grouchy.

“Baby Wolf, get dressed, we’re going to breakfast.”

_ “But, Jai… m’tired.”  _

If that wasn’t the cutest damn thing, but… “too bad, I know Theo’s awake, so you and Mason get out of bed, I’m hungry.”

He scoffed loudly over the line and grumbled.  _ “Fine!” _ and then hung up the phone.

When Gwen came out, I was ready to go, and from the text I had gotten from Theo, so were the trio. Gwen narrowed her eyes at me and shook her head. 

“What are we doing now?”

“Breakfast.”

There went the eye roll, she was definitely hanging around Dean too much. “Fine.”

“Ugh, you and Liam would make a great team, so grouchy.” I grabbed my keys, tucked the gun and blade where they belonged and waited, patiently, for the five seconds it took her to finish getting ready. We were so used to being on the go that we had become experts at on the fly dressing.

Stepping out onto the balcony, I was greeted by a smiling chimera and a happy Mason, who instantly went to Gwen, but it was Liam that I was laughing at as he stumbled out of the door, drawing a button-down on.

“Ready?” I looked over the other four. As ready as they were going to get. 

“Where are we going, even?” Liam huffed. I should have prepared a cup of coffee to go just for the younger wolf. 

“You’ll see, I found the perfect place.”

~~~~~

Swami’s Cafe was -- indeed -- perfect, right down to the menu, and surprisingly empty for a Sunday morning. With the five of us tucked away at a few joined tables in the back and the typical chaos of  _ family breakfast  _ in full swing, I found myself fully relaxed. Gwen was to my right, Theo to my left and Mason and Liam were close at hand. 

And the bacon eggs benny was absolutely divine. 

But that left us with what to do with the day. The boys weren’t due to leave until later that day, since it was only an eight hour drive to Davis and only a few hours longer before Theo and Liam arrived in Beacon Hills, the three of them were set to do what they had been doing the day before… hiking.

“Come with us,” Liam’s eyes were locked on Gwen’s. She was the one that needed to be convinced, because I was up for anything, but she relented faster than I had imagined, and those eyes were suddenly on me.

“Dude, you don’t even have to ask.” I smiled and felt Theo’s hand on my thigh, giving it a gentle squeeze before we all went back to eating, and quiet conversation.

~~~~~

The trail was wide open, there wasn’t a car in sight, and I hiked my pack higher on my shoulders, securing it across my chest. Yes, we had hiking packs. Gwen stood beside me, sunglasses slipped on and she surveyed the land.

“I find it odd that it’s so peaceful during the day.” Her voice was almost a whisper, as if any louder would disturb the ghosts.

“Oh, they’re still out there.”

“Can you feel them?” She turned her eyes down to me and I followed the horizon.

“With every nerve.”

“Come on, you two!” Mason yelled as we stepped off the concrete and onto the dirt road, following the path the trio had taken. 

So, seven point nine miles round trip, give or take, was the plan, but with Liam and his phone, and a little bet on who could get the most pictures, again, we went a bit further. The land was filled with small animals, beautiful flowers, and views of the Otay that none of us could pass up. 

We managed to take more group photos than probably should be allowed but between Liam and me, there were photos with everyone in our group, wanted or not, and most of them were candids. 

He needed this. I could tell by just looking into his smiling blue eyes that this was exactly what Liam needed to work out his issues. Not the hunt, not the travel, but to get away, to be with people that didn’t care about his diagnosis, or if he held it in. We even videoed a race between him and Theo across a flat part of the plain. 

It was a good day.

But just like every other good day, it ended.


	8. Gwen

**Gwen**

This goodbye wasn’t as easy as I had hoped. We all stood awkwardly at the back of Mason’s car where the trunk was packed with their things, a week’s worth from the look of it, and maybe a panda bear that I thought Mason couldn’t live without, but it was painfully awkward.

Jai leaned back against the Rogue, arms crossed, a look of indifference on her face, but I knew inside she was hurting. Mason swayed on his feet, not ready to make the first move in this, hands deep in his pockets. Liam was biting his lip, a nervous habit that he never broke out of from high school, and Theo just stared at his feet, arms crossed in a defensive manner, more of a way to protect himself than to keep others away.

“Someone has to start,” I sighed, even though I didn’t want it to be me. Taking in a deep breath, I moved on Mason. His eyes went wide as I extended my arms, stepped up close, and wrapped them around him. He seemed to just fold into me, like it was something he wanted to do since the battle last night. “It won’t be long.”

“It always feels that way,” he mumbled against me, arms wrapped as snuggly around my neck as he could get.

“You realize I have a plane,” I couldn’t hide that one anymore, and Mason sat back wide-eyed. He knew it, he had heard the little things Peter let out, and I knew the lurky wolf had spilled because he gloated about it to Jai.

“So, seven acres of land? Indoor pool?”

“All true,” I couldn’t help the laugh that escaped. The look on his face was one of pure shock. “And extra rooms for a few Beacon Hills men.”

“Oh, we are so there.” Mason smiled, but reluctantly let me go and moved over to Jai, who pulled off the  _ ew, touching _ with perfect acting, I could see it hurt her a little for them to be leaving so soon. 

Liam was next, his nervous biting hadn’t stopped as he made his way towards me, but without a word, his arms were around my neck, pulling me down the five inches to envelope me in a warm hold. He was too young, but I wondered what he would look like evolved like Derek, and I could almost imagine a light chestnut and white wolf with those bright blue eyes staring up at me.

“Don’t stay away,” he sighed, his voice low as if the admission of missing us was something he didn’t want to voice.

“I know you have something with Sam, a big brother type of relationship,” I confessed and felt him go still, “but if you’d like a big sister, I’m just a phone call away. I can help when you need some.”

“How?” He stepped back this time, arms falling to his sides, “Theo can’t even help sometimes.”

“Theo doesn’t have to deal with Jai.” 

His eyes went right to her and how she was speaking quietly to Mason, before he nodded. “Yeah, she does seem to be a little off.”

“More than a little.” I smiled, which got him to relax. “I know a little bit about anger issues, Liam.”

“I know a lot about Theo,” he grinned, as if to say he knew a little about them as well. The two of us peeked in that direction, at the way Theo watched over her. “They have such a weird relationship.”

But, I knew better now, “not as weird as you think.” I put my attention back on him. “Please, call me.”

“I will.” He gave me a smile, one that was full of sadness but also acceptance, and he moved on towards Jai as Mason headed towards the car. 

Theo was the only one left. He stepped over to me, hands jammed in his pockets instead of across his chest, and he looked at me from under his lashes, like a shy boy.

“Thanks,” was all he started with.

“You’re welcome.” But that couldn’t be all, could it? Three words between us? “Listen, I know Jai can be intense, that she can come off a little…”

“Over the top? Annoying?” He smiled, finally making eye contact.

“A bit much,” I echoed an earlier sentiment back at him.

“Yeah, no argument there.”

“But she cares about you, and that’s what makes her that way.” How to phrase this without freaking him out. “Just… be careful.”

“Always.” He kept his hands to himself, gave me a curt nod and made his way to her. 

There was a spark in her eyes as he approached but his hands never moved. They stood close, not fooling anyone, and talked in a low voice as Liam and Mason headed towards their respective seats in the car, both sets of their eyes on me. We had all looked away, gave them a moment of relative privacy, but I saw it, when he leaned his forehead against hers and the strange peace in her eyes, before he backed away and moved towards the car.

I stepped back as the engine came to life, leaned on the bumper of the car with her, and waved as Mason pulled out of the spot and headed onto the road. Two beeps and they were gone.

Jai sighed, bumped my shoulder, and headed for the stairs. I quietly followed, not sure what to do, or where to go next, but we didn’t have to leave, we had one more night.

She flopped down on the bed as soon as we entered the room, gathered the pillow Theo used and tucked it under her head, eyes closed with a smile on her face. “What now?”

“Sleep?” I stopped in front of the table and closed my notebooks, tucking them away in the messenger back.

“Screw that, I’m wide awake,” yet she looked half-asleep already. “Food?”

“Nah, not really hungry yet.”

“Flight plan?”

“We’re set to fly out of San Diego at three tomorrow.”

“Tijauna?” This got my attention, but the more I thought about it… I shook my head. “Why not? It’s been ages since we’ve been over the border.”

“And the last time you nearly shot a man for insulting the waitress.”

“It was rightly deserved, he was an asshole.” She sat up pretty quickly. “You know I find it pretty strange that  _ you _ of all people don’t want to hop the border.”

“Just not in the mood, I guess.” I sat down at the table, logged out of my laptop, and thought over the rest of the day. “What did you think about Cooper?”

“She’s alright, good hunter, light on her feet, hell of a way with Sabers.” Jai hugged the pillow close. “Strange relationship with Mason.”

“Same thing I heard about you and Theo all weekend.” 

“Well, they’re not wrong on that one. What about you?”

“She did some pretty good research on the road, though we might be the only ones with the minotaur lore, but the fact that she came all the way here for the boys is always a plus.”

“Loyalty is always a good quality.” Jai flopped back on the bed. “I kinda miss the boys. It’s been about a month, hasn’t it?”

“Yeah, about that.” 

“Flight’s headed home or can we reroute it to, I don’t know… Kansas?”

“Actually, it’s set to head to Sioux Falls.”

She sat straight up. “Why?”

“Bobby asked if we could come home for a few days, figured we were headed in that direction, we could refuel there, do a layover.” But her question made me question. “Didn’t you check in?”

“Dude, I thought you were checking in.”

“Ah, no. Check-ins are your job.”

“ _ Fuck _ !” She snatched the phone off the nightstand and got up, heading straight for the bathroom, not that she cared if I heard it but if the yelling started, the bathroom fan would drown it out. 

I tried to hide the smile. It didn’t work.

~~~~~

The next morning was a complete cluster. We had packed the night before, managed to get out to a bar within walking distance and get some sleep, but the alarm never went off and before we knew it, it was ten. Not a big deal, but check-out was at eleven. 

Jai showered quickly, passing it off to me as soon as she stepped out the door and I could hear her singing loud enough that it was clear through the spray of water.

_ “In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight.”  _

I plugged my ears and closed my eyes because it was just going to be that type of day.

When I stepped out and opened the door, she was sitting on the bed, a to-go cup of coffee in one hand and her phone in the other. She held it up, showing me the text from Cooper.

**Cooper:** _ Hey, you gals got a few days to kill? Got home to a case, could use a hand. _

I took the phone from her and shrugged. “What do you think?”

“Hey, I could deal with Northern Cali again.” She grinned reaching for the phone before she snatched it away. “You?”

“Send it. We’ve got time to change the flight plan.”

“Nice.” She was quick to send a text out for more information before she went back to her previous screen. There was a smile on her face that told me it was one of several people but the smirk narrowed it down.

“Instagram?” 

She laughed, and shook her head, “Scott’s having a field day with the pictures. I swear if he wasn’t so young, he’d be having a coronary.”

I slowly dressed as she scrolled through, shaking her head, and then the smile faded. “What?”

“Theo.” She turned the phone, handing it to me, and I saw the strangely cropped picture of the three of us, which was weird because I don’t remember taking a shot with just me, him, and Jai.

I saw what stopped her. The caption read, “ _ my lifelines _ ,” and that was it.

“That’s…” I shook my head, handing it back.

“Intense?” She grinned up at me.

“No more hanging around Mason.” I had just sat down to slip my shoe on when there was a pounding at the door. “I told you to keep down the singing.”

“I’m pretty sure there’s no one on this floor to bitch about my off-key wailing.” She stood slowly, pulled the gun from her jeans and settled by the edge of the dresser, hiding just to my right.

I took a deep breath, grabbed the handle and yanked the door open.

The man standing there was not who I expected.

“What the hell?” came Jai’s whispered voice from behind me.

In front of me, scowl on his face, all furrowed brows, and clenching fists was the glaring green eyes of Dean Winchester.

“Dean?” Now I was curious.

“What the hell are you doing in La Mesa?” He snapped out, and Jai came around to stand beside me. “You’re supposed to be in San Diego.”

“How did you know we were in La Mesa?” 

So, I wasn’t the only one curious.

Dean whipped his phone out turning it so I could see, open to the group shot from the dinner the night before, and he raised a brow.  “Instagram.” 

_ As Jai would say “duh-duh-duhhhhhh.” _

_ We’re off on our next adventure. See you soon. _


End file.
